4-Year-Old Boy Mauled To Death By Pigs While Playing Outside Home, Half-Eaten Body Found

A four-year-old boy, who was playing outside his house, was dragged by a herd of pigs and mauled to death near a garbage dump. The incident took place in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Tuesday.

According to police, the child, identified as V. Harshavardhan, was playing outside his house in the Singareni colony when a herd of street pigs attacked him. He was dragged and brutally mauled to death by the animals.

Harshavardhan, who lived with his parents in a hut in the colony, stepped out to play on Tuesday evening when the tragic incident took place. His parents, who were daily wage workers, were inside the hut at the time as they did not have any employment due to the coronavirus lockdown and were unaware when their son was attacked by the pigs.

A few residents who were passing by the isolated area found the child lying near the garbage dump. On close inspection, they found the boy wasn’t moving and that his body parts were partially eaten. They immediately informed the local police who rushed to the scene.

“A pack of pigs were loitering around the garbage dump and attacked the child on spotting him. The animals partially ate the body of the boy,” K Srinivas, station house officer, told local media.

The responding officers were trying to identify the child when his parents, who were searching for their missing baby, arrived at the scene after their neighbors informed them about the horrifying incident. The officers immediately rushed the child to a nearby local hospital but their efforts went in vain. The hospital declared the child brought dead. His body was later transferred to a government hospital for autopsy.

The child’s father, V. Keshya, registered a complaint regarding the incident. The residents of the area had been repeatedly complaining to the authorities about the herd of pigs roaming around the locality.

The residents said that the pigs were a usual sight in the area and no matter how many times they tried to shoo them away they always managed to find their way back. They also reported that they were a constant disturbance at their farms but such a tragic incident occurred for the first time. Residents said the authorities failed to take any action toward removing the pigs from the area.