Mentally ill man bites flesh off girl's cheek; Child rushed to hospital, to undergo plastic surgery

In shocking a incident, a mentally unstable man bit flesh off a two-year-old girl's cheek in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district.

The child was playing in the courtyard of her house when the man, pounced on her and bit the flesh straight off of her cheek.

He let the girl go after the bystanders beat him up with sticks. The toddler was rushed to a district hospital by her father, Sunil Kumar. Doctors said she would need plastic surgery. The accused has also been admitted to the same hospital.

The girl's father said: "I was at home when my daughter was attacked by a man who was in an inebriated condition. The flesh on the left side of her face was missing. My daughter is having panic attacks and her condition is serious."

The girl hails from a Dalit family and her father works as a daily wage labourer in the village.

Circle officer Dileep Singh, who rushed to the spot, saw the accused lying unconscious with multiple injuries on his body. He was sent to the hospital under police custody.

The man has been identified as Chedalal Gangwar, a resident of Khajua Jageer village. His family members told police he was undergoing treatment at a mental hospital and was kept inside his house. He escaped from his house and attacked the child.

The man, on Thursday afternoon, created a ruckus in the hospital and tried to attack the medical staff.

Bareilly SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan said: "This looks like an act of a mentally ill person. We have registered an FIR against the man under section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by a weapon or other means) and other relevant sections of IPC. We will send him to mental hospital after doctors provide a report about his condition."

(With inputs from IANS)