New Delhi: Police said Thursday that a seven-year-old girl died after a glass-coated kite string got entangled around her neck and cut her deeply in the Paschim Vihar area of outer Delhi.
On Wednesday at approximately 7:27 p.m., a PCR call was received at the Paschim Vihar West police station reporting the death of a girl who had been fatally injured by a kite string while riding on the back of her father's motorcycle.
“The information was received from Sri Balaji Action Hospital and the incident occurred in Guru Harkishan Nagar, Paschim Vihar,” said a senior police official.
As per the initial probe, the deceased was sitting in the front, followed by her father , 13-year-old sister and mother.
Her father hurried her to the hospital after the event in Guru Harkishan Nagar, but she later died from her wounds while receiving treatment.
"A case of causing death by negligence and disobedience to order by a public servant has been registered against unknown persons," the official said.
The Delhi High Court ordered the Crime Branch to investigate the producers and importers supplying the material to the traders in February of this year due to the continued availability of 'Chinese manjha' (kite string) despite a prohibition on it.
Justice Prathiba M. Singh, who was on a single-judge bench, was hearing a lot of similar cases and trying to find out the state of all the related FIRs in the city, had also sought details of the traders still selling the manjha.
As per section 94 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978 where it is provided that, "Prohibition against flying kites, etc. -- No person shall fly a kite or any other thing so as to cause danger, injury or alarm to persons, animals or property."
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) declared a total ban on the production, distribution, sale, and use of nylon and other synthetic manjha and thread in 2017, on the basis that they are toxic to nature and are non-biodegradable.
On August 4, 2022, the High Court asked an update from the Police regarding their efforts to enforce the National Green Tribunal's ban on Chinese manjha.
A public interest litigation challenging a prohibition on kite flying and related activities due to safety concerns regarding the suspected usage of Chinese manjha was heard by a division bench headed over by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.—Inputs from Agencies
