7 booked for flying kites in west Delhi after girl’s throat slit by string

The seven men, described by the police as professional kite flyers, have been charged under a provision that stipulates a ₹100 fine on conviction

NEW DELHI: A day after a seven-year-old girl’s throat was slit by kite string in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, the city police said seven persons have been bookedunder the Delhi Police Act for flying kites.

Section 94 of the Delhi Police Act says no person shall fly a kite or any other thing so as to cause danger, injury or alarm to persons, animals or property (HT FILE PHOTO)

“Seven professional kite flyers have been prosecuted and booked under section 94/97 of the Delhi Police Act by the staff of Paschim Vihar West police station for flying kites causing danger, probability of injury or alarm to persons, animals or property,” said deputy commissioner of police (outer) Harendra K Singh said.

Section 94, under which they have been charged, says “No person shall fly a kite or any other thing so as to cause danger, injury or alarm to persons, animals or property”.

To be sure, the offence is punishable with a ₹100 fine.

Singh said the seven are Vinod Sharma (34), Ashish Lopes (34), Sumer Singh Mehta (43), Azhar (35), Noor (28), Harpreet Singh (30) and Abhishek Gaur (26).

Singh added that 200 kites and 33 manjha (kite string) rolls had been recovered from them.

Delhi has, for decades, been unable to stamp out the use of Chinese manjha to fly kites, with the city consequently reporting several injuries and deaths due to the sharp thread every year. The number of instances usually spikes in the weeks running up to Independence Day every year, as more people take to the Capital’s rooftops to fly kites.

The Delhi government in January 2017 and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in July prohibited the sale, manufacture and supply of glass-coated thread across the city, taking note of a spate of injuries to human beings and animals.

In February this year, a Delhi high court bench of justice Pratibha M Singh ordered the authorities to conduct periodic inspections to check that Chinese manjha is not being sold anywhere in the capital.