Ludhiana, July 28: An 11-year-old boy in Ludhiana died of rabies 20 days after he was bitten by a dog. The deceased, identified as Arjun, had concealed his parents that he was bitten by a dog. He died a few hours after he was diagnosed with rabies on July 25. The incident came to light when local health officials investigated his death. His parents blamed increased population of stray dogs for their son's death. Pitbull Mauls 12-Year-Old Girl, Punjab Court Sentence Dog Owners to 6 Months in Prison and Rs 1000 Fine.

Arjun, who lived in the slums on the outskirts of Jaspal Bangar village, was bitten by a dog and concealed the dog bite from his parents. He had told his parents that he had injured his leg while playing. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Lakhwinder Singh, who lives in the village, said that Arjun's parents had thought he was possessed and did not take him to a hospital on time. Punjab Man Places Dog In Front of Car, Runs It Over; Maneka Gandhi Shares Disturbing Video.

"Arjun started behaving abnormally a few days ago. Instead of taking him to a doctor, the family took Arjun to a quack, and then to a witch doctor as they believed he had been possessed by evil spirits," Singh was quoted as saying. On July 25, Arjun's condition deteriorated and he started frothing at his mouth. It was then his father Haimraj and mother Parvati took him to a hospital.

Arjun died at the hospital a few hours after doctors found that he was infected with rabies. A postmortem was conducted after which his body was handed over to his family.

As per another report by the same publication, more than 3000 people in Ludhiana have been bitten by dogs in past six month. Citing data from the civil hospital, the report said 894 cases were reported in January, 800 in February, 336 in March, 315 in April, 245 in May and 485 in June.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 28, 2021 01:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).