PESHAWAR: Peshawar's cantonment board has fixed a bounty of Rs300 per rat as the city's rat infestation hit another young victim.

Three-year-old Hifza was taken to Lady Reading Hospital after she was bitten in Hassan Ghari in Peshawar, where an eight-month-old child was bitten to death last month.

According to Hifza's father, Kaman Khan, he woke up to find his daughter crying in the middle of the night.

"We saw a big black rat in the room and her finger was bleeding." The rat escaped after biting the child, taking advantage of the dark room.

He added, "I am really worried. We are poor and what do we do to stop the rats?"

The population of rats has been consistently increasing in the area, says local resident Malik Jahangir.

Peshawar's district government announced a special drive against rats by fixing a Rs25 bounty for killing a rat, but officials say that the local government is yet to start the campaign due to lack of funds.

"To run the drive successfully, we have fixed Rs300 as head-money for killing a rat in the limits of cantonment board," said Vice Chairman of cantonment board Waris Khan Afridi.