In a deeply tragic and avoidable loss, 22-year-old state-level Kabaddi player Brijesh Solanki died of rabies in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, two months after being bitten by a stray puppy. The young athlete had rescued the dog from a drain and suffered a small bite in the process, a wound he considered insignificant and never reported for medical treatment.
The minor injury turned fatal. On June 28, Solanki succumbed to full-blown rabies, days after symptoms emerged. Videos shot in his final moments show the Kabaddi player in agony, convulsing and howling in pain, gripped by the late-stage symptoms of a virus that remains nearly 100% fatal once it reaches the brain.
Ignored Bite, Lost Life
Brijesh Solanki, a gold medalist and pride of Farana village, had brushed off the bite as a scratch. His coach, Praveen Kumar, said Brijesh believed the discomfort in his arm was a common Kabaddi injury. “He didn’t even mention it at first. We never imagined it was rabies,” Kumar said.
Symptoms began appearing around June 26, during practice. Brijesh reportedly felt numbness in his limbs and showed signs of confusion. He was rushed to a district hospital, but his condition worsened. As panic set in, his family transferred him to a private hospital in Noida, where doctors confirmed that he was in the final stages of rabies.
His brother, Sandeep Kumar, alleged that government hospitals in Khurja, Aligarh, and even Delhi turned them away. “He was showing clear signs- afraid of water, disoriented but we couldn’t get him admitted anywhere until we reached Noida,” he said.
What Is Rabies? How Does It Kill?
Rabies is a deadly viral infection that spreads through the bite or scratch of infected animals, most often dogs. The virus travels along nerves to the brain, typically taking weeks or months before symptoms appear. Once they do, it is almost always fatal.
Symptoms include fever, hydrophobia (fear of water), confusion, hallucinations, muscle spasms, and eventually, respiratory failure.
Crucially, rabies is entirely preventable with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP): immediate wound cleaning, timely vaccination, and in high-risk cases, administration of rabies immunoglobulin.
A Nationwide Crisis: India’s Rabies Burden
India bears the highest rabies toll in the world, accounting for 35% of global deaths estimated at 18,000 to 20,000 lives lost annually, according to WHO and Health Ministry data.
Recent rabies-related deaths across India echo the same pattern: missed or delayed treatment after minor-looking bites.
In Kerala, a 7-year-old girl named Niya died despite receiving both the vaccine and immunoglobulin.
In Bhopal, a man named Bablu Rana died after a stray dog bite; he never got medical attention.
A Ghaziabad boy died a month after a dog attack- again, treatment was delayed.
In Tamil Nadu, a 4-year-old child succumbed even after receiving the full vaccine course, likely due to the bite location near the brain.
These cases highlight how even with awareness, treatment needs to be immediate, complete, and closely monitored.
An Avoidable Death, A Wake-Up Call
The case of Brijesh Solanki stands as a tragic lesson in what happens when awareness is absent. Despite being young, athletic, and part of a close-knit sporting circle, Solanki never realized the risk he was carrying. His village, Farana, gathered in mourning as the community bid farewell to a son they say had “a bright future and a golden heart.”
“He rescued a puppy and paid with his life,” said one of his neighbours. “If only someone had told him how serious this was.”
Public Health Response and What You Can Do
As rabies cases rise, several Indian states are pushing for universal vaccination programs and stronger sterilisation drives for stray dogs. Kerala’s health officials are lobbying for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for children in high-risk areas.
What the public must know:
Clean the bite wound immediately with soap and running water for at least 15 minutes.
Seek medical attention without delay even for minor scratches.
Follow the complete vaccine schedule (usually over 4-5 doses).
Ask for immunoglobulin for high-risk or deep bites.
What Authorities Must Do: A Policy and Enforcement Gap
Brijesh Solanki’s death underscores not just a personal tragedy but a failure of public systems. Health experts and civil society groups have repeatedly called for a coordinated national rabies control program, which must include mass awareness drives, free and accessible post-exposure vaccination, and emergency training for frontline health workers to recognize and respond swiftly to dog bite cases. Municipal bodies must intensify stray animal management, including humane sterilisation, vaccination, and population tracking programs. Meanwhile, lawmakers should push for uniform, enforceable legislation across states to ensure timely treatment, consistent vaccine availability, and accountability in public hospitals. Without urgent and systemic action, India risks continuing to lose lives to a disease the world already knows how to prevent.
Despite repeated tragedies, India’s response remains fragmented. Vaccine shortages, lack of rural healthcare access, and the legal impasse around stray dog control hinder progress.
What isn’t in short supply is heartbreak, and the story of Brijesh Solanki is the latest in a growing list.
As India looks to secure its public health framework, Brajesh’s death should not be in vain. His case must serve as a turning point, not just in Kabaddi circles, but across every town, village, and city where people still believe that ‘a small bite is nothing to worry about.’