Anita never locked the main door of her house. The confidence, she says, came from six-month-old Eri, a Pomeranian, who was an excellent guard dog.
Every evening, when Anita’s younger son, 10-year-old Hritik, went out to play, Eri accompanied him. Daily at 7 pm, when Anita returned home, she would find Eri waiting for her at the door — a bottle of water tucked under his paw.
And on Saturday evening, when Eri realised that there was threat to Anita’s eldest son Jeetu’s life, he put in his best to fight off the assailants.
The Pomeranian was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants, just 100 meters away from his home near Desh Gupta Bandhu Road in Central Delhi.
“I have never seen such an intelligent, responsible and caring animal,” Anita says. “He took the bullets on him just to save my son.”
Recalling the Saturday evening, Anita says there was a function at her home. Around 10 pm, her mother-in-law asked Jeetu help his aunt and uncle find an auto to go back home. It was dark, and Eri was not going to let Jeetu (18) go to the main road alone.
Speaking to Newsline, Jeetu says he left the house with his relatives and Eri was in his arms. As they were looking for an auto, two bikers came asking for his younger brother Naveen (17).
“Someone in the lane told them that I am his (Naveen’s) elder brother. Without asking anything, they just opened fire. The moment Eri saw the pistol, he pounced on the bikers. As he was barking and tried to catch hold of their foot, one of the assailants shot at him. My uncle and aunt sustained bullet injuries, I escaped unhurt. It is all because Eri that the assailants got scared and fled,” Jeetu says.
He remembers how Eri stood by him earlier as well.
“Even when my mother used to get angry at me, Eri would come running to save me. He used to lick my mother’s feet and tried to calm her down. It always worked,” Jeetu recalls.
Several neighbours came to Anita’s house to mourn Eri’s death. Many said Eri was the fourth son to Anita, and also the most responsible one.
After the incident, Eri was taken to a veterinary hospital, where doctors failed to the trace the bullet that had pierced his stomach. He died on his way home.
Anita and her family bid final farewell to Eri with last rites performed at Yamuna ghat.
“He died in my lap. He was more than a son to me. He saved my son’s life. None of us have eaten since the incident. I just came back after performing his last rites, but we will always remember him as our ‘Hero’,” she says, looking at his photographs on her phone.
