Two killed during Dahi Handi celebrations in Maharashtra; 42 Govindas injured
Two people were killed during Dahi Handi celebrations in Maharashtra as a seven-year-old boy died after a brick column collapsed on him in Mumbai and a woman was crushed under a temporary iron frame in Pune, officials said on Saturday.
Besides the two deaths, at least 32 ‘Govindas’ were injured in Mumbai and another 10 in neighbouring Thane while forming human pyramids as part of the Janmashtami celebrations.
Dahi Handi is celebrated as part of Janmashtami, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna. During the festivities, Govindas form multi-tier human pyramids to break clay pots filled with curd suspended above the ground.
In Mumbai, the seven-year-old boy, identified as Rudra Kadam, died after a brick column collapsed at Ekta Welfare Society in Chikuwadi, Malvani, around 3 pm.
Officials said a group of children had been celebrating Dahi Handi on their own, tying one end of the rope holding the handi to a tree and the other to a brick column supporting a ground-floor structure.
When the children tried to break the handi, the column suddenly collapsed and struck Rudra on the head. He was rushed to Malvani General Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
In Pune, Salma Salauddin Pathan, a resident of Old Sangavi in Pimpri Chinchwad, died after a temporary iron structure supporting a stack of loudspeakers at a Dahi Handi event collapsed on her on Friday night.
Police said workers were dismantling the structure after the event organised by Vighnaharta Mandal ended when a heavy portion fell on Pathan. She suffered a serious head injury and was taken to hospital, where she was declared dead.
Pathan’s son was an office-bearer of the organising mandal. Her family declined to lodge a complaint against the organisers and asked police not to register a case on their own. Police subsequently registered an accidental death report and are investigating the collapse.
The death comes amid a debate in Pune over the use of high-decibel sound systems, commonly referred to as DJs, during festivals.
In Mumbai, 32 Govindas were injured, with 28 discharged after treatment and four still undergoing treatment as of 3 pm, according to information from government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run hospitals.
Of the 32 injured, 29 were taken to hospitals in the island city, where 25 were discharged and four remained under treatment.
In Thane, 10 Govindas were admitted to hospitals. Four were treated at the civic-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital for injuries to the back, neck and head, while six were admitted to the District Government Hospital with fractures and other physical trauma.
Police stepped up security across Mumbai during the festival, deploying heavy bandobast in sensitive areas.
The BMC had also kept more than 100 beds ready at civic hospitals in Mumbai and its suburbs to treat injured Govindas. Health officers and staff were deployed in three shifts, while hospitals were directed to maintain adequate stocks of medicines, injections and surgical supplies.
