A scuffle over dog poo on the street took an untoward turn in Okalipuram near Srirampura on December 31.

A 20-year-old youth -- who spotted dog poo in front of his house -- confronted his neighbour, the owner of the dog in question. Tempers flared as the argument worsened between the youth and the neighbour.

The injured Srikanth, a post office employee, ended up with 15 stitches to his hand after the skirmish.

According to Srikanth, at around 8 pm on Monday, neighbour Vani’s dog pooped in front of his house. Srikanth, along with his father Sridhar, who sells books in front of the Racecourse, then went to question Vani’s family and asked them to clean up the mess.

In response, Vani and her sister Geetha, abused Srikanth and his father in foul language. Geetha summoned her sons, Prabhakar and Ajith as well into the melee.

Prabhakar brought a machete, swung it around, slitting Srikanth’s palm and three fingers, Srikanth’s complaint to the police said. Srikanth was profusely bleeding. Meanwhile, Ajith hurled stones at Srikanth’s legs too.

Further, Vani and Geetha instructed Prabhakar and Ajith to continue with the assault. Soon after, with the help of family members and other neighbours, Srikanth was rescued and rushed to the hospital.

After he was discharged from the hospital, he filed a complaint on Wednesday at the Srirampura police station seeking action against all four.

“None of the four were arrested even after three days from the incident. I see them pacing in front of the house. They even threatened me for filing a complaint. We have been living in our house for the past 20 years. Now, because of Vani’s family, we are planning to shift from here,” Srikanth told DH.

Srirampura police, meanwhile, said it is a case of neighbours fighting. The police have issued a notice to the accused asking them to appear before the investigating officers.

All the four accused in the case were booked under IPC sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).