Doctors induce coma for Batu Pahat toddler wounded in stray dog attack

JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 6 — A two-year-old girl is fighting for her life after being critically injured by a pack of five stray dogs outside her grandmother’s house in Kampung Tambak, Sungai Kelambu, Peserai in Batu Pahat yesterday.

Nur Haira Watikah Mohammad Hamizi, suffered severe head and facial injuries in the 7am attack, The New Straits Times reported.

Her grandmother, Darlinda Darlis, 56, told the newspaper that the girl was in her care while her parents were at work in Johor Baru.

Darlinda said she found the front door open after taking a bath and saw the dogs attacking the girl outside the house.

Her son helped rescue the bloodied child before they rushed her to Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital in Batu Pahat, where she was treated in the red zone and placed in an induced coma.

The girl was later transferred to Sultanah Aminah Hospital here because of the severity of her injuries, Darlinda  said.

The grandmother claimed the dogs had been abandoned by hunters who used them to hunt wild boar in a nearby oil palm plantation, adding that residents had long been concerned about their growing numbers.

Batu Pahat district police chief Assistant Commissioner Shahrulanuar Mushaddat Abdullah Sani confirmed a police report had been lodged and said the case was being investigated under the Child Act 2001.