NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, MARCH 4
A petitioner, Kirtikumar Bhatt, on Tuesday submitted before the Gujarat high court that inaction by of the authorities on preventing stray dogs from attacking humans is a violation of human rights and a violation of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child, The Times of India reported.
Based on Bhatt’s PIL, the HC issued notice to the authorities in January. However, Bhatt sought to add to his arguments and maintained that numerous dog attacks on people were a gross violation of the human rights of citizens of India. More than 17 million people suffer dog bites and about 18,000 people lose their lives to rabies every year in this country. The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, comes within the purview of the Internal Security Division-III of the ministry of home affairs, reads Bhatt’s petition.
The petitioner further stated that the majority of victims of stray dog attacks are children. The United Nations had brought out a ‘Convention on Rights of the Child’ in 1989, and India acceded to it in 1992. Thus, attacks and killing of children by strays is a violation of the convention, Bhatt argued. In his PIL, Bhatt sought directions to the city police commissioner and the municipal commissioner to use police forces to curb the stray dog menace.
