is a daily wage labourer in village Gurpaliya of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh. His 11-year-old son Khalid was mauled to death by dogs, who locals say have turned ferocious and killed 14 children after the shutdown of an illegal abattoir in the vicinity. Abid recounts the horror of losing a child to feral attack.
It was May 1, a day which several labour leaders tell us is celebrated by all the workers in the world. For my family, May 1 will remain a black day for life. As usual, I had woken up early to reach Labour Chauraha near Lucknow-Sitapur junction in search for dihari (daily work).
I thought I was lucky when a contractor hired me for digging work at a construction site. At around 9 am, my elder son Adil came rushing and panting to me and said that dogs have attacked Khalid. We all know what a dog attack means in Sitapur. They are devils who hunt in packs. They prey on the young who are defenceless. They are not stray dogs anymore; they are killers.
I rushed to the local healthcare centre where my wife Mehzabeen was standing outside the dispensary and crying. Doctors informed us that Khalid was brought dead. My wife was inconsolable. It was the same story. A child is passing through a mango orchard, either to pick the mangoes strewn after a storm or to relieve oneself, and is suddenly confronted by a pack of ferocious dogs. In no time, the child is mauled and by the time villagers arrive with sticks to save the victim, the child is severely injured.
Most often, they die on way to hospital. That day too, Khalid had gone to collect raw mangoes after a storm the previous night. After all, most children his age are greedy for such bounty. Eyewitnesses say they heard his cries for help and saw him trying to climb a tree but the dogs bit him and pulled him down. By the time, help came, he was lying on the ground.
The mango tree still has his bloodstains. Just think about it, a father learning of such a death of his son! Khalid was the 14th victim in the area by last count. And the deaths haven’t stopped since. My village wears a haunted look today. There are no children playing outside as parents lock them at home. My other five children, Rukhsana, Majid, Adil, Aquib and Ayan too remain confined to the house.
The government has given me a compensation of ₹4 lakh but my question is that why were things allowed to reach this stage. If the administration had woken after the first death, Khalid would be alive. But Sitapur is not Lucknow or Varanasi, which will make news.
Media persons have since visited this place several times and the administration is now on the guard. Of the compensation I received, I have put ₹2.5 lakh in the bank for the future of my children and the rest will be used to fix our roof before the rainy season begins. We have taken some measures too like putting up wire around the mango trees on panchayat land so that children can stay safe in the area.
Living in constant fear is not the remedy. Allah has taught us to brave hard times by uniting against evil. These dogs are evil and we must fight them unitedly. We have decided and allotted one day of the week for a group each and while others go out for their daily routine work, others help the state teams with local knowledge to prevent a Khalid-like tragedy for other families.
-With editorial assistance from Lokmarg