Mumbai: Head injury likely cause of child’s death at Ghatkopar mall

CCTV footage showing the child on the blue slide

A 3-year-old girl who died while playing in a kids' play zone at a Ghatkopar mall might have hit her head as she barrelled down a wavy slide, said a doctor citing the report of a CT scan done on her soon after she felt giddy and collapsed. The scan pointed to internal bleeding in the head. Her parents and the police haven't found anything suspicious about her death. On October 30, the child, Dalisha, and her mother Paramveer Kaur and father Karan Verma went to Xeno's play space on the 5th floor of Neelyog Square mall at Ghatkopar East. Dalisha fainted while playing there.

Nayan Hariya, the owner of the play space, shared the chronology of the incident. "The parents had visited the centre earlier too and on Sunday they booked a slot between 4 pm and 5.30 pm. At 4.15 pm, when the girl came sliding down, she first got up and then felt dizzy. She was unresponsive and our staff immediately rushed to assist them," he said. Hariya said they have shared the CCTV footage of the play area with the police.

"Initially, the centre assistants took the parents to a nearby paediatrician's clinic but he had left an hour ago. The family then rushed the child to a hospital," he said. Dalisha was first taken to SRV Hospital, Tilak Nagar, where the family lives. Doctors at the hospital performed a CT scan.

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Dr Harish MS, the unit head of SRV Hospital, said, "According to the records, the patient was alive and breathing. Her blood saturation was 99 per cent. Our staff immediately took her for CT scan which confirmed right sub-dural hemorrhage [internal bleeding]. We told the parents that they don't have a paediatric neurologist present in hospital, after which the parents rushed their girl to another hospital."

Dr Harish added, "The bleeding may have been caused due to the impact while sliding down. The edge of the slide may have caused the impact, but it's forensic experts who will have the final word on this." The parents then rushed her to Mulund's Fortis Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. The body was taken to Rajawadi Hospital and a post-mortem was done in the early hours of October 31. Since the autopsy could not reveal the cause of the death, doctors sent her samples for histopathological analysis.

"The CT scan report shows internal bleeding in the head. This may be because of the impact, be it on the edge of the slide or the floor," said a source with knowledge about the case. "Children's back portion of the head is very fragile and a sudden impact may lead to such bleeding. But, more details are needed to know about the death of the child," said the expert. Ravidutt Sawant, senior inspector of Pant Nagar police station, "The post-mortem report is awaited. Unless there is any negligence, the police can't take any action."