The Vadodara city police have started an investigation into the death of a food delivery agent after his throat was cut by a sharp kite string on Sunday. This is the second fatal incident in the state in the last fortnight, a month ahead of the January 15 Uttarayana Patang festival.
On Sunday, 27-year-old Harinath Rathwa, working with a popular food delivery company, was driving his two-wheeler near Soma Talav area in Vadodara, when he allegedly got entangled in a kite wire which caused fatal injuries. Passersby called the emergency services but Rathwa was rushed to SSG Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Kapurai police station officials have started an investigation to find out whether the string is a banned Chinese or lead-laced kite string. According to officials of Kapurai police station, post-mortem has been done and the body has been handed over to the family. Rathwa is survived by his wife and two children, including a four-year-old daughter and a four-month-old son.
30-year-old Hasim Shaikh was also injured in the neck by a kite while going to Karelibagh area of Swaminarayan Mandir road section on Monday. Sheikh was immediately taken to SSG Hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment.
The SSG Hospital had earlier issued an advisory in December, warning two-wheeler riders to “be careful” as injuries from kite strings were reported to the hospital’s emergency ward “earlier than usual”.
The Vadodara city police commissioner had issued a notification banning Chinese kite strings and hot air lanterns during upcoming festivals.
Special Operations Group (SOG), Vadodara City PI SD Ratada said the SOG has registered an FIR and seized 1,000 hot air lanterns so far, but the police are conducting raids to break the strings of Chinese kites.
However, Ratada said that permitted kite strings can also cause fatal injuries.
“Once a person is injured by a kite string, travelers usually take care to send the person to the hospital, and kite strings usually do not heal. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the injury was caused by Chinese kite string. He said that even the strings of kites that do not leave glass are sharp and driving two-wheelers at high speed causes injuries to people. It depends on the effect during the entanglement. The best way to go is to be careful at speed and use guards.”
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