6-year-old boy killed as kite string slits his throat in Rajkot

“All of a sudden, the six-year-old boy’s throat was cut by a kite string hanging loose from the roadside power distribution cable. The father came to know about it when the child screamed aloud but by that time, the string had cut deep inside the child’s throat,” VB Sukhanandi, assistant sub-inspector of Aji Dam police station said Sunday.

The injured boy was rushed to the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital (civil hospital) in the city where he succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment. “The boy’s father is a migrant labourer from Uttar Pradesh,” Sukhanandi said, adding the girl and the couple escaped without injuries.

Incidentally, the government has banned the use of Chinese manjha or string made of nylon or plastic for flying kites. Sale of such strings has also been prohibited.

On the eve of Uttarayan Friday, Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargav had launched a drive, organised by Agrawal Samaj and Hindi Samaj of Rajkot, to distribute protective neck-bands to prevent injuries by kite strings. The drive continued Saturday, the day of Uttarayan also, and the two organisations distributed around 20,000 such protective bands.

“However, the child was not wearing any band or any other protective cover and therefore the kite string hit the boy’s neck directly, causing a fatal injury,” the assistant sub-inspector added.