02 April,2017 08:43 AM IST | | Rupsa Chakraborty
The desire to do well in her Marathi exam is what put 8-year-old Haziqa Ansari in harm's way. The 8-year-old would not have been at the spot if she hadn't wanted to excel in Marathi exam on Monday
A child, around the same age as Haziqa Ansari, seen at the spot next to the 22-storey Danish Villa in Madanpura where she was hit, even as the police carry out their investigations. Pics/Bipin kokate
The desire to do well in her Marathi exam is what put 8-year-old Haziqa Ansari in harm's way. The Std II student of St Joseph's School, Madanpura, is currently battling for life at Nair hospital, after a frying pan fell on her head from one of the flats in the 22-storey building Danish Villa, cracking her skull on Friday morning. Doctors have given her a bleak prognosis. The impact of her injury has led doctors to believe that the pan could have fallen from the height of around 100 feet (around 10 or 12 storeys high).
Her devastated father, Faizan, said Haziqa usually went for tuitions every Saturday, but because she wanted a good score in the Marathi exam on Monday, she decided to go for extra coaching on Friday. "She went there around 10 am, but was hit by the frying pan when she was returning," said Sadique, her mother.
Faizan is angry with whoever dropped the pan. "I won't stop until the culprit is arrested," he said.
"She was the life of the house, being the youngest of three children. But, she was also very obedient," said Irfan Ansari, her uncle. She would often head out to tuition classes alone in order not to burden her mother, he said.
The 22-storey Danish Villa in Madanpura
Shopkeepers rushed to help
When Haziqa was injured, 25 shopkeepers downed their shutters in the area to accompany her father to hospital. "I rushed to pick her up, but blood was pouring out of her head wound. She soon became unconscious," said Bilal Ahmed, a tea stall owner. Most of them stayed at the hospital till late Friday night.
Police, residents baffled
The accident has the residents and police baffled. All the windows of the flats in Danish Villa are covered with grilles, so cooking utensils can't just fall off from there. The police, after an initial inquiry, said the pan may have fallen when someone tried to throw away food from the frying pan and it slipped out from the person's hand. "We have gathered samples of food from flats facing the road to match that found on the road," said a police officer from Nagpada police station.
