Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) has confirmed that the three-year-old child attacked by a pit-bull last Wednesday in the Tchumene 2 neighbourhood (Block 25A), in Matola municipality, Maputo province, has died in hospital.
PRM spokesperson Delfina Massingue reported that the 10th Police Station learned of the incident through the block chief and went to the scene immediately.
Upon arrival, the police found the child still alive and arranged for him to be transported to the Matola Provincial Hospital, where he was declared dead a few minutes later.
“The police’s own canine unit, which specializes in cases of this type, was also deployed to the scene, together with the Protection Police, and managed to subdue the animal,” the spokesperson reported.
“Carta” visited the scene of the incident, including the house where the animal was killed, to talk with the dog’s owner, Nivaldo Macia, and learn about the circumstances in which the dog escaped from his home.
However, Macia refused to give a statement, stating: “I am not authorized to speak, except to the police.”
According to neighbours, Nivaldo Macia had left the house on Wednesday afternoon and, when he opened the gate, the pit-bull, which was not restrained, ran off and started chasing another dog. It was then frightened by the movement of people in the street, which led to it attacking the child, who was playing with two others.
Laura Matsinhe, a witness to the attack, recounts the drama, which lasted for about two hours.
“I was preparing meals at my workplace, next to the road, when we heard people running after the dog. Frightened, the animal attacked a little boy who was playing in front of a house. It was a moment of torture for that child. The child’s father courageously tried to save him, but was unable to. He fainted when he realised he was helpless,” Laura said.
She added that, after the incident, all children were prevented from passing through the area, even those who were going to school.
“We had to block the passage for almost three hours, as the danger was still imminent. When the dog’s owner arrived and asked that the dog not be killed, the locals refused and forced him to watch the animal being killed,” she said.
Another witness, Marta Sitoe, tells her version of events. “Thank God we were all inside the house: me, my husband and our baby, when the dog entered the yard. We started hearing noise and the police officers asked us to lock the doors. We looked out the window and saw the yard full of officers trying to kill the animal, which was furious,” she recounted.
The officers asked to come in and fired more than four shots at the dog. They thought it was dead and left. However, minutes later, the dog started moving again and started running around the yard. The population called for help and the officers returned and finally managed to control the animal with the help of the owner.
The population, outraged, invaded the house and killed the dog with stones and sticks. Fearing that it would show signs of life again, they burned it and buried it during the night, far from the residence.
“It was God who saved us. I have a baby and I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if the dog had found him in the yard, where he is every day. We are living in real terror. There are still traces of blood on the walls of the yard,” Marta Sitoe lamented.
The child’s remains were buried this Thursday, speedily on account of the severity of his injuries.
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