HYDERABAD: A five-year-old girl died after a banned Chinese kite string, commonly known as manja, cut her neck while she was travelling on a motorcycle with her father in Kukatpally on Sunday evening.
The deceased was identified as P Nishvika. Kukatpally police said they received information around 5 pm from Prem Sagar, a private employee and resident of Gokul Plots in KPHB. He told police that he had visited Khazipally village in Jinnaram of Sangareddy district with his family and was returning home on his motorcycle.
While riding along Vivekananda Nagar Main Road, near Pillar No. 781, his younger daughter, seated in front of him on the bike, suddenly began screaming in pain. Prem Sagar stopped the vehicle and noticed profuse bleeding from the child’s neck.
On closer inspection, a kite string was found tightly entangled around her neck. The parents removed the thread and rushed the child to a nearby hospital. Despite treatment, doctors declared her dead.
Police registered a case and began an investigation to trace those flying kites with the banned manja in the area.
This is not the first such incident reported this year. On January 14, a 38-year-old migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh died in Sangareddy after a Chinese manja cut his neck while he was riding a two-wheeler.
Despite a ban, Chinese manja continues to be used across the state. The synthetic string has been linked to injuries and deaths of humans, birds and animals.