A woman has sought a compensation of Rs 20 lakh from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for physical, emotional and financial trauma, after she was brutally attacked by a "pack of stray dogs" earlier this year.
In a petition to the Delhi High Court, Priyanka Rai said she was attacked while riding pillion on a motorcycle near Khirki Village Road in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar in March this year.
She sought the compensation on the basis of a formula devised in 2023 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that determined the factors to decide the relief amount. In 2023, the High Court said the amount would depend on the number of teeth bites on the victim and whether "flesh has been pulled off the skin".
Rai has sought Rs 12 lakh for a total wound area of 12 cm - the High Court decided Rs 20,000 would be provided per 0.2cm of wound. She asked for an additional Rs 4.2 lakh at the rate of Rs 10,000 per tooth mark, as set by the High Court, claiming that the attack "involved the use of all 42 teeth of the dog".
Rai has also asked for Rs 3.8 lakh as compensation for trauma, taking her total claim to Rs 20 lakh.
The High Court, which first issued a notice to the MCD in May, gave more time to the corporation to submit its response on October 29.
In 2023, Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj of the High Court had passed the order with a formula to calculate compensations in dog bite cases.
The order was delivered on a batch of 193 writ petitions pertaining to dog bites and other animal attacks.
The High Court had also directed Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh to calculate compensation pertaining to accidents caused by stray cattle such as cows, bulls, oxen, donkeys, dogs, nilgai and buffaloes as well as wild, pet and stray animals.
The high court also mandated that the award be passed within a period of four months of the claims being filed.
