On Tuesday, locals of the southern Indian city, Hyderabad were shocked to find the half-eaten corpse of a 4-year-old child. The child, identified as V Harshavardhan, had left his hut in the Singareni colony, Saidabad area, when the incident occurred. Residents of the area told the police that they had complained about the aggressive pigs to authorities but they were still allowed to roam the area.

At around 4 pm on Tuesday evening, Harshavardhan left his home and went to play near an isolated area. His parents were at home as they have been left unemployed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India. The child was alone when the drove of pigs, which usually stick to the garbage dump nearby, attacked the child.

Some locals discovered the child's body and alerted the police. Upon arrival, Siadabad police tried to identify the child. During the identification process, the worried parents of Harshavardhan reportedly arrived at the spot and identified the boy's half-eaten corpse.

Station House Officer (Saidabad) K Srinivas told Telangana Today that the pigs attacked and killed the child before partially eating the child's body.

The Times of India reported a slightly different story. According to their report, the child's father, V Keshya, told the police that the child was playing in front of their home when the attack took place. Their report does not speak of the child being dragged away to the garbage dump. Instead, the report states that the pigs mauled the child before he was rushed to a hospital. When the child was taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The child's body had been sent for post mortem examination. A case had been filed by Harshavardhan's family.

Even though there have not been any other deaths due to attack from the pigs, they have been a hindrance to the locals. Residents of the area stated that they had raised complaints regarding the rogue group of pigs, but nothing was done to remove the feral animals from the garbage dump.

A pig is seen in a garbage dump close to a slum in New Delhi December 15, 2009.
A pig is seen in a garbage dump close to a slum. Reuters