Karnataka Biker's Throat Slit By Kite String, Dies After Call To Daughter

The killer kite string has struck again, this time in Karnataka. A 48-year-old motorcyclist has died after a kite string left him critically injured.

Sanjukumar Hosamani was on a road near Talamadagi Bridge in Karnataka's Bidar district. A taut kite string across the road caused a deep cut, and Hosamani started bleeding heavily. As he collapsed from his bike, he somehow managed to dial his daughter's number. A chilling video shows Hosamani, drenched in blood, trying to dial his daughter's number.

A passerby saw him and tried to stop the bleeding by placing a cloth on the wound. According to local residents, an ambulance was called, but by the time it arrived, Hosamani had breathed his last.

Relatives have hit out against local authorities and said Hosamani might have survived if the ambulance had arrived on time, and that the delay proved fatal.

In the wake of the incident, Hosamani's relatives and local residents protested at the accident spot, demanding action against the use of nylon kite strings and improvement in emergency services.

A case has been registered at Manna Ekhelli Police Station, and police said an investigation is underway.

Flying kites on Makar Sankranti is a tradition in many parts of the country. Earlier, cotton kite strings coated with powdered glass were used to fly kites, but over the past several years, nylon strings have replaced cotton strings in many areas. Nylon has gained popularity because of its durability and low cost. But this has a killer flipside: the durability of nylon makes it lethal as it slices through skin, causing grievous injuries and deaths. The most vulnerable are bikers who cannot notice the thin strings across roads and flyovers and ride into them.    

Called Chinese manjha in many areas, these strings are claiming lives for years now. As recent as this Monday, a 45-year-old man, identified as Raghuveer Dhakar, died after a kite string slit his throat at Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Several such incidents have happened in Delhi too. In July 2025, 22-year-old businessman Yash Goswami was on his scooter on the Rani Jhansi flyover in north Delhi when a kite string slashed his neck, and he fell off the two-wheeler. He was rushed to a hospital, but was declared dead. In 2022, a biker died after a Chinese manjha injured him on the Haiderpur flyover. The killer kite string killed a seven-year-old in July 2023 in Delhi's Paschim Vihar.

Authorities conduct inspections and raids to seize these killer kite strings from time to time, but recurring deaths suggest this is not enough.