Attacked by stray dog; eight-year-old boy dies of rabies

HARIPPAD: In a tragic incident, an eight-year-old boy died of rabies in Harippad. The deceased has been identified as Devanarayanan, son of Harippad Kottakkakam native Deepu. He had been undergoing treatment for the last week after suffering from breathing problems. As his condition worsened yesterday morning, he was taken to a private hospital in Thattarambalam and then to the Alappuzha Medical College. However, he died at around 11.45 am.

On April 23, Devanarayan had thrown a ball in his hand at a stray dog while the dog was trying to bite a cyclist. Following this, the dog turned towards Devanarayan and chased him. While running away, the boy fell into a drain and got injured.

Back then, some people had expressed doubt that the dog too fell into the drain along with the child. However, since there were no signs of the dog bite, the boy and his family assumed that he got injured by the fall. As a result, the boy left the hospital after applying medicine to the wounds. He did not take vaccination for rabies. Mother: Radhika, sister: Devananda.