E-Paper
Chinese kite string takes 22-year-old man’s life
NEW DELHI: A 22-year-old man died after a hanging Chinese kite string (manja), came in his way and slit his throat. He fell from his bike, hitting his head on the divider and died on the spot. The incident was reported from west Delhi’s Minawali Nagar at 4:30 pm on Monday.
Jaffar Khan was on his way home to Nihal Vihar after meeting his sister, when the incident occurred.
“He was coming down from the Vikaspuri flyover on the Outer Ring Road, when a kite string came in his way,” a senior police officer said.
“The string slit his throat and he fell from his bike, hitting his head on the divider. He fell with such force that he sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot,” the officer said.
Last week, the Delhi High Court had directed the Delhi government to come up with guidelines banning the use of Chinese manjha. Chinese manja is a nylon thread coated with powdered glass.
The Delhi government will also issue a notification to impose a complete ban on sale, production, storage, supply and use of nylon, plastic and Chinese manja and other kite-flying thread that is sharp or made sharp such as being laced with glass, metal or other sharp objects in the capital.
Kite flying is popular in Delhi particularly during the festive season of Makar Sankranti, Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day.
The incident was reported to the police by the passersby. “Locals gathered after the man fell from his bike and called up the police control room. Khan was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The police team tried to identify the neighbourhood from where the kite came, but the string broke and the house could not be traced. There were so many kites in the area. It was difficult to identify the person flying the particular kite,” a senior police officer said.
Police said that the cut from the string was deep, but could not have led to death. “Excessive bleeding due to the head injury appears to be the cause of death. We have sent his body for a postmortem examination and his family has been informed about the incident,” he said.
The police have registered a case of negligence in the matter and have started the investigation.
“We have accessed the CCTV footage from the area but such minute details have not been captured. We are still searching for a footage that may help us identify the person,” an investigator said.