Mumbai: 3-year-old dies while playing in Ghatkopar mall

A grab from the CCTV footage showing the child coming down the slide

The death of a three-year-old girl in a kids' play area of a Ghatkopar mall has remained a mystery as she did not suffer any apparent injury. The child felt dizzy and collapsed after using a slide. A post-mortem did not throw up any concrete primary reason for her death. While her parents do not suspect any foul play, doctors at Rajawadi Hospital have sent her viscera and blood samples for further analysis.

On the afternoon of October 30, Tilak Nagar resident Karan Verma and his wife Paramveer Kaur visited the Neelyog mall at Ghatkopar East with Dalish, their only child. They went to the kid zone on the 5th floor. Police sources said Dalish went up a wavy slide and came down gliding. But as soon as she landed, she felt giddy. By the time her mother took her outside the play area, she collapsed.

Dalish's parents rushed her to Fortis Hospital at Mulund where she was declared dead before admission. The hospital then informed the Pant Nagar police as the incident had happened in their jurisdiction. The parents told the police that they did not suspect anything wrong as their daughter was playing in front of them. "The parents told us they don't have any complaints against anyone as there was no foul play. As of now, we have registered an accidental death report," said Ravidutt Sawant, senior inspector of Pant Nagar police station.

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A grab from CCTV footage showing the girl (circled) on the slide at the kids' zone of Neelyog mall at Ghatkopar East on October 30

A post-mortem was carried out at Rajawadi Hospital where doctors didn't find any superficial injuries on the body. They reserved their opinion on the cause of death and sent the viscera and blood samples to the histopathology department for more analysis. The police suspect the child might have suffered internal bleeding after hitting a bumpy surface.

An attendant was present in the kid zone at the time. She told mid-day, "I was assisting the children who were playing. Suddenly, I saw a girl collapsing. Her mother tried to wake her up, but when she didn't, they rushed her out. Yesterday [Tuesday], we learnt that she is dead. Every day, we see hundreds of kids playing here but this is the first time such a thing has happened."

mid-day tried to contact the child's father, who works in a finance company, but he didn't respond. "The CCTV footage is clear and shows no negligence or foul play. As of now, we have registered an accidental death report. After receiving the cause of death, we will take the final call," said Prashant Kadam, deputy commissioner of police of Zone 7. mid-day called up Dr Thakar, the head of Rajawadi Hospital's post-mortem centre, but he declined to talk about the case.