11-year old girl injured after elevator falls in Gurugram condo

An elevator in Gurugram's Raheja Vedanta condominium fell from the third floor, injuring an 11-year-old girl. Her family blames maintenance negligence and demands action.

An elevator went into free fall from the third floor at the Raheja Vedanta condominium in Gurugram Sector 108 on Tuesday, injuring an 11-year-old girl who was inside it at the time, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

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The girl suffered a fracture in her right ankle, they added. The incident took place at 4pm in Tower H of the condominium when the girl, Hiranyaa, was going for tuition. Himika Khurana, the mother of the victim, said she obtained a video from a camera inside the elevator from the maintenance office.

“In the video, we can see that the lift suddenly jerked and stopped abruptly on the ground floor. My daughter then had to crawl out of the elevator. She is in shock and in trauma. We took her to a nearby private hospital, where it was found she had suffered a fracture and a plaster was put on her ankle and leg. This incident happened due to negligence of the residents’ welfare association and the maintenance agency,” said Himika.

The family has complained to the RWA, which maintains the condominium, and demanded action against the maintenance agency. In her formal complaint to the RWA, she said, “My daughter is seriously injured, her ankle is fractured due to free fall from third floor/malfunctioning of lift. Earlier too many times RWA and the maintenance team was informed regarding shaking and loud noise of the H Tower lift, but this was never taken seriously.” HT has seen the complaint.

“What is even more shocking is that the RWA refused to take cognizance of the incident and it was only after a lot of pressure by residents that they accepted the complaint. We want proper inquiry into the matter and action against the maintenance agency. We will also lodge a complaint with the police and the authorities in this matter,” she said.

Himika said that other elevators in the condominium, which has nine residential towers, have problems and often malfunction.

The Raheja Vedanta RWA, when asked about the matter, said that the elevators were functioning normally and this was not a major issue. “If you see the video, you can see that there is no major fall. We have got the elevator checked and there was no malfunction. However, we have asked the maintenance agency and the elevator manufacturer to send a team and probe the matter,” said Ajit Pandey, president of the RWA.