Pitbull mauls six-year-old, bites off ear: Delhi HC directs police to take ‘expeditious steps’

The court was hearing a plea by the child’s father seeking Rs 25 lakh compensation

The court noted the compensation claim lies with the owner while calling for preventive steps from authorities.

The Delhi High Court has sought a swift police probe after a six-year-old boy was severely injured in a pitbull attack in Prem Nagar, directing that the unregistered dog not be released until safety measures are ensured.

Hearing a petition seeking compensation of at least Rs 25 lakh for a dog attack on a six-year-old child that left him with a mutilated left ear, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the police to take “expeditious steps” in the FIR registered in the case.

The child, an LKG student, was mauled by a pet pitbull on November 23 while he was playing outside his house in Northwest Delhi’s Prem Nagar. According to the plea filed by the boy’s father, the dog had dragged his son across the street, bit off his left ear and caused other multiple serious and grievous injuries to him.

The FIR was registered the same day, and the owner was arrested.

The counsel of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Tushar Sannu, Tuesday informed the court that the pet pitbull was seized by the MCD on November 24, with consent of the owner, and that the civic body acted on the issue as soon as it received the complaint. The court was also informed that the pet dog was unregistered, in contravention of the law.

Justice Sachin Datta, as an interim relief to the petitioner directed the MCD that the dog shall not be released until adequate arrangements are made to ensure that a similar incident does not recur.

The court, however, orally suggested that the claim for compensation would lie before the owner, rather than the government.

The Delhi government’s counsel too told the court that the perpetrator has to pay for the compensation. However the court, addressing the Delhi government’s counsel added orally, “You’ve to take ameliorating measures in consultation with the MCD to ensure this menace (does not occur).”

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The petition noted that this was not the first such incident and that the pitbull has bitten and attacked a number of people. Complaints to the police in the earlier incidents resulted in no action, claimed the petitioner’s counsel.

The child’s father, a daily-wage earner who makes around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 a month, sought compensation from the government to cover medical expenses, along with a waiver for out-of-pocket costs for the prescribed medicines.

Justice Datta directed the police to file a status report by the next date of hearing, scheduled for March 2026. The court also issued notice to all respondents, which includes the owner of the pet dog, the Delhi Police Commissioner, ACP of Aman Vihar in Rohini, SHO of Prem Nagar police station and Safdarjung Hospital, where the child was treated.