It is unclear whether the dog was a stray or a pet (Representative Image) | Photo Credit: BCCL

Key Highlights The incident took place on Tuesday when the boy was returning home In the video, his mother can be seen trying to rescue the boy Efforts by passerby to scare the Pitbull away can be seen going in vain

Chandigarh: A 15-year-old boy was ferociously mauled by a dog in Punjab's Jalandhar city on Tuesday. The incident took place when the child was returning home from his coaching classes on a bicycle. Footage retrieved from a CCTV camera installed near the site shows the boy screaming for help as the dog continues to claw at him.

In the video, the dog can be seen dragging the boy by its teeth. Repeated attempts by passerby to rescue the boy go in vain as the animal refuses to let go. While some hurl buckets at the dog, others use sticks or water to scare the Pitbull away but their attempts fail to deter the animal. Reports have also established that the child was attacked on his own doorstep.

Towards the end of the footage of the incident going viral on social media, one can see that the boy's mother trying to save her child from the dog. In a statement to media outlets, eyewitnesses claim that the Pitbull mauled the boy without any provocation. Identified as Jalandhar resident Laksh Uppal, the boy was immediately rushed to a local hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

Unfortunately, this is the second such incident to have come to light from the state of Punjab this month. On January 6, a six-month-old infant was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs at Pasna village in Kartarpur. Police later identified the victim as one Sudha Kumari, the daughter of farm labourer Babuan Chaudhary.

Similarly, the four-year-old child of a migrant labourer died after he was attacked by stray dogs in Bahomajra village in Khanna tehsil of Punjab's Ludhiana district on January 26. Multiple accounts by neighbours and family members suggested that the child was playing outside his home when he was mauled to death.