Mumbai child dies during joyride: BMC says single horse rides are illegal, police disagree

The police have booked horse trainer Soham Jaiswal for culpable homicide.

Two days after a six-year-old girl fell to death during a horse ride, the civic body and the city police are on a collision course over whether single horse rides at the ‘Ghoda Garden’ in south Mumbai are illegal.

Six-year-old Janhavi Mistry lost her life after she was thrown off the horse at Cooperage garden.

While BMC officials said along with the Victoria carriages pulled by horses even the ‘ghoda garden’ horse rides were banned in 2015 by the Bombay high court, citing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the police believe that single horse riders were not mentioned in the order as it doe not fall under the Act.

On Sunday, a joyride near Cooperage ground turned tragic for the Mistry family after the six-year-old Janhavi Mistry lost her life after she was thrown off the horse. The girl, who had gone to the garden along with her parents, fell from the horse after the trainer coaxed it to run faster on her demand.

“The BMC regulates horse trainer, but we will also ensure that they take all safety measures,” added Sharma.

When contacted Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of BMC (A Ward), said the horse-riding at Ghoda garden is illegal. “The horse riding was banned under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act by the Bombay High Court in 2015. The BMC has not reviewed the licences of these trainers since 2005,” said Dighavkar, adding that they would now discuss the issue with the police. “We will have to decide whether the horses would be impounded or rehabilitate etc,” said Dighavkar.

Sharma however disagreed with Dighavkar claiming that the single horse rides do not fall under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and therefore these horse riders were not banned by the high court.