PANAJI: In one more case of stray dog menace on Goan beaches, upcoming Bollywood actor Kaseesshree Khandelwal was attacked last week by a pack of violent stray dogs on the Colva beach.
The attack took place early on Saturday morning. Kandelwal, who is Mumbai-based, was on a trip to Goa for the promo shoot of her film “Who Killed Shraddha?” based on the Shraddha Walkar murder case. The entire film is being shot in Goa and is directed and produced by Maneesh F Singh, of Vrindaavan Films – a Mumbai-based production house.
According to Kaseesshree, “We were walking on Colva beach early on Saturday morning… It must have been around 5.30 or 5.45 am. We had finished the film promo shoot the previous night and were to leave for Mumbai on Saturday. Not wanting to miss out on the picturesque Colva beach, we decided to take a stroll early in the morning to breathe in the fresh air, before leaving for the airport. Two more members from the film unit were also with me. While they were clicking selfies, I wandered ahead, trying to look for something like shells or stones – mementos, which I could take back to Mumbai. Without any provocation or reason, I was attacked by 3 super-hyper aggressive strays who surrounded me from three sides and tried to bite me… as I shielded myself with my hands, I sustained minor scratches on my fingers and hand. Hearing my screams, my colleagues rushed toward me and flung sand at the aggressive dogs who then backed off. I had a few scratches on my hands and had to rush for first aid and a tetanus shot.”
Kaseesshree said she is an animal lover and tried to calm the angry dogs, but to no avail. “The dogs were beyond control and rabid. Maybe, they were very hungry and just could not be controlled. If my friends had not to intervene in another two or three seconds, they would have bitten me,” she said.
Early this month in the first week of December, a Russian lady tourist Zena was attacked by a stray dog on the Colva beach on Wednesday during her visit to the beach. She was later taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries on her finger and buttock.
The stray dog problem on Goan beaches is increasing as many people – both locals and tourists feed the strays on the beach and at other places. Habituated to being fed, the dogs get aggressive when they are hungry. In fact, the Benaulim and Colva beaches have become hotspots for stray dog attacks and even last year there was a hue and cry over the canine menace.
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