4-year-old girl dies of rabies four months after stray dog attack in Karnataka

A four-year-old girl, Khadira Bhanu, who had been battling for life for the past four months after a stray dog attack, died in a private hospital in Karnataka’s Davangere.

The incident occurred when the child was playing in front of her house and was mauled by a stray dog. The attack left her with severe injuries on multiple parts of her body, including her face.

Despite prolonged treatment, the child later developed rabies from the dog bite and succumbed on Monday.

Karnataka has recorded 2.86 lakh dog bite cases and 26 deaths due to suspected rabies between January and August 2025, according to the State Surveillance Unit’s infectious disease report. Between August 4 and 10 alone, 5,652 dog bite cases were reported across the state, though no rabies-related deaths were recorded in that week.

Health authorities are continuing to track cases and conduct awareness drives on timely treatment, vaccination, and responsible pet ownership to curb the spread of rabies.

In a recent incident in Bengaluru, two college students were hospitalised after being attacked by stray dogs inside the Bengaluru University campus near Kengeri. The victims, Sujanya G J from Haveri and Rega Nikshitha from Telangana, are pursuing Integrated MSc in Economics at Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics. Both were admitted to a private hospital with injuries and were reported to be stable.

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