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Close shave for 4-year-old after light falls on her at Chandigarh mall

A four-year-old girl narrowly escaped after being struck on the forehead by hanging decorative lights that suddenly fell from a Christmas Carnival setup at Nexus Elante Mall on Wednesday.

Updated on: Dec 26, 2024, 08:10:05 IST
By , Chandigarh
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A four-year-old girl narrowly escaped after being struck on the forehead by hanging decorative lights that suddenly fell from a Christmas Carnival setup at Nexus Elante Mall on Wednesday.

The hanging decorative light fell on the four-year-old girl at a Christmas Carnival at Nexus Elante Mall on Wednesday. (HT Photo)
The hanging decorative light fell on the four-year-old girl at a Christmas Carnival at Nexus Elante Mall on Wednesday. (HT Photo)

The victim, Avni Sharma, was attending the Christmas Carnival with her parents. The family had purchased tickets for the “Winter Wonderland” experience organised at the mall. According to her father, Navneet Sharma, a resident of Sector 50, the accident occurred at approximately 1.30 pm while Avni was at one of the compartments in the play section for children.

“Avni was enjoying herself when suddenly a few decorative lights from the setup fell from a height. The light was heavy, made of hard plastic, and ball-shaped,” said Navneet Sharma.

“One of the lights struck Avni on the forehead. We immediately called the PCR and took her to the hospital. This is gross negligence on the part of the mall management,” added Sharma.

Following the incident, Avni’s parents contacted the police and took Avni to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 (GMCH-32), for medical attention. Doctors called it a minor injury, saying, “diffuse swelling over the front partial region of head.”

The mall management has not issued any statement regarding the incident and has neither confirmed nor denied it.

SHO Jaspal from the Industrial Area police station, however, claimed, “No such incident occurred at the mall.”

On June 22, 11-year-old Shahbaz Singh from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar died after a compartment of the mall’s toy train overturned, trapping him under the vehicle. The Chandigarh Police filed the chargesheet only last month in the case. Two partners of Pixie Land Management, the company operating the toy train, Sunil Kumar Goyal (52) and Puneet Kumar Ahuja (48) have been implicated in the chargesheet along with driver of the toy train, Sourav.

Another FIR against the owners and management of Nexus Elante Mall, Industrial Area, Phase I was registered when a large granite slab dislodged from a pillar and grievously injured Surbhi Jain and her 13-year-old niece, Maisha Dixit, on September 29. Surbhi’s husband, Sahil, stated that he visited the SSP’s office a week ago to demand action against the culprits. “So far, the police have not arrested anyone in the case or fixed accountability,” added Sahil.