An 18-year-old college girl accidently fell in to a well and drowned to death in Thrissur on Friday after reportedly being chased by a group of stray dogs.
According to reports, Greeshma, a first-year undergraduate student at Aryabhatta College in Guruvayur was on her way back home after buying milk when a group of stray dogs started chasing her. She panicked and started running away, and accidently fell into a 25-feet-deep well which had no protective wall.
Though a neighbor jumped into the well to save her, she could not be rescued. By the time emergency services arrived, she had died.
Since the incident happened at an isolated areca nut plantation, there were no eye-witnesses. But locals say that they heard Greeshma cry out for help as the dogs barked and chased after her.
The body has been kept at the Kunnamkulam Taluk Government Hospital for an autopsy.
There have been over 700 cases of dog bites reported in Kerala this year. In October, a 90-year-old man in Thiruvananthapuram district was brutally attacked and killed by canines. A day after the incident, locals went on a reckless killing spree by beating 27 strays to death.
The mass killing was carried out on after a unanimous decision was taken by panchayat committee despite the legal restrictions in place. The panchayat representatives themselves led the mass drive to cull the strays in the area.