Twelve-year-old Abhirami, of Mannappuzha in Perinad Panchayat of Pathanamthitta, was returning home early in the morning on August 13 after collecting milk bottles from a nearby house, when a German Shepherd pounced on her. A karate champion with three titles under her belt, Abhirami bravely fought the dog and tried to escape from its clutches. By the time she succeeded in freeing herself, the dog had inflicted deep wounds on her right cheek just below the eye and on her limbs. Though she was administered three doses of the anti-rabies vaccine, on September 5 she succumbed to the deadly virus while undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College, Kottayam.
“She might have been destined to live up to the age of 12. Had she received proper primary care at the hospital where she was initially admitted, she would have survived. Nothing can fill the void caused by her death,” says Abhirami’s mother, Rajani Hareesh, her calm demeanour cloaking the grief that has engulfed her.
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