Mumbai: 29-year-old dies in tragic accident while dodging a kite manja

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Wadala: Gitesh Patare (29), an engineer residing in Wadala was killed in an accident as he tried to dodge a stray kite thread on Sunday night. He was riding his bike back home from work at MIDC-Seepz when suddenly a kite string flew into his path at Vile Parle (East). He ducked to avoid the string but lost his balance and fell out to hit a car on the northbound Western Express Highway. He suffered head injuries due to the accident. Patare was from Wadala and was married only a year ago.

Patare died before being admitted to a hospital, said Laxman Chavan, Vile Parle senior inspector.
According to TOI, a case has been registered under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against unidentified people. This is not the only case of manja casualties, 70 birds have been admitted to the BSPCA Parel animal hospital for manja injuries in the past 3 days. Among them parakeets, owls, kites and pigeons are listed. "Even professional kite flyers tie bandages around their three fingers while using manja, so you can imagine the damage it does to unwary people or birds. It slices through the body part, leaving deep cuts into the muscle," said Col (Dr) J C Khanna who runs the facility.

Other animal rights volunteers and groups have reported similar cases. "I made inquiries in Malad, Goregaon and Kandivli and learnt that nearly 45 injured birds were treated privately by activists. In all, over 150 birds were injured," said activist Bhavin Gathani of Karuna Parivar. Ahmed Kazi of Bandra's Lucky Kites, said, "Chinese is just a label. It is made in Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Umergaon. It involves coating plastic or nylon thread with powdered glass. It is like a fishing net. It does not snap. There's a simple thread manja that kids use. It is the safest."

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