Vijayawada: In a rare incident, a four-month-old baby lost his life after bandicoot rats attacked him in a makeshift house at Ravvaram village under Nuzendla mandal in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.
Though there have been instances of rats and mice attacking and injuring people, particularly babies while they were asleep, or bodies in mortuaries, attack by bandicoot rats is rare in these parts.
According to the police, the infant’s parents, Konda Guravaiah (35) and Durgamma (30), are migrant labourers who moved to Ravvaram for work and have been staying in a makeshift hut in the village. The couple makes a living by selling bangles and rings in nearby villages.
Inavole police sub-inspector Krishna Rao said on Wednesday morning, Guravaiah left for his daily wage job, while Durgamma placed the baby on a blanket on the ground in their makeshift house and stepped out briefly to get breakfast. In her absence, bandicoot rats entered the house and attacked the sleeping infant, inflicting severe injuries on his face.
When Durgamma returned, she was horrified to find the child critically wounded and bleeding. The baby was rushed to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to his injuries on the way.
The tragic incident has left the local community in shock. The mother’s cries of grief over losing her child in such a horrific manner moved the villagers. Police have registered a case of suspicious death.
Bandicoot rats are big in size and belong to the same order (Rodentia) as the common rats. In fact, the term ‘bandicoot’ gets its name from Telugu word ‘Pandikokku’. However, bandicoots that are present elsewhere, particularly in Australia are marsupials, and different from the bandicoot rats found in other parts of the world, including India.
