Residents of New Amanful, a fishing community in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region, were dumbfounded when news broke that a six-year-old boy in the area had been mauled to death by a dog under bizarre circumstances.
The unfortunate incident took place last Tuesday on the premises of the deceased’s school New Amanful D/A Methodist Primary School.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that the said dog reportedly rushed from the owner’s residence to the nearby Basic School to attack the class one pupil, who was playing with his colleagues on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.
The victim, Bismark Adzi, died hours after being rushed to the Kwesimintsim Hospital.
When DAILY GUIDE visited the community, it was revealed that some of the residents were still struggling to comprehend how the purported Alsatian dog could maul the class one pupil to death in that manner.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the stepfather of the deceased, Quashie Womegah, indicated that on that fateful day, he returned from Aflao but did not meet the deceased and his mother at home.
“So I called my wife that I needed the keys to open the room but she told me she was at a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting but will send little Bismark to submit the keys to me, he narrated.
According to Mr Womegah, “I waited for a long time but no one brought the keys so I decided to break the door to enable me enter the room and have some rest after a long journey from Aflao.
“So I was in the room when I started receiving phone calls from friends and some relatives that my step son had been bitten by a dog and that he was in serious condition and had been rushed to the hospital,” he added.
He mentioned that when he got to the hospital, he saw the little boy wrapped in white bandage with blood stains all over his body, adding, “I also gathered that Bismark was playing with his colleagues at their school grounds when suddenly the dog at a nearby house came and attacked him.”
The mother of the deceased, Susana Prah told journalists that she attended a PTA meeting at the school and sent Bismark to hand over their house keys to his father, but he decided to join his fellow friends who were playing at their school grounds.
She indicated that immediately after the incident, the little boy was quickly rushed to the Kwesimintsim Hospital to receive treatment but unfortunately he passed on later at the hospital.
Some of the residents claimed the owner of the dog called some security personnel to protect him from a potential attack by some of the irate residents.
“After hearing that some enraged youth of the community, who have gotten wind of the plight of little Bismark were besieging the house to kill the dog, the owner called for police protection.”
DAILY GUIDE learnt that some security personnel rapidly responded and provided security to him and the dog.
According to information, the dog has since been sent to the Veterinary Service where it had been quarantined for examination.
The body of the victim has also been deposited at a Private Morgue at New Amanful while the case has been taken over by police investigators.
When contacted, the Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, noted that on June 26, 2017, one Nana Owusu of New Amanful went to the police station in the area to report that his dog had mauled a six-year-old boy to death.
He told the police that he rushed the boy to the Kwesimintsim Hospital, near Takoradi where he was responding to treatment.
The police proceeded to the hospital and found the boy with multiple bites all over the body.