He Was To Meet Sister For Rakhi, Kite String Slit Throat On Delhi Flyover

In a tragic incident in the national capital, a biker on his way to his sister's home for Rakhi died after his throat was slit by a glass-coated kite string, commonly referred to as Chinese manjha.

The glass-coated strings, which have caused several accidents in the past, are banned in Delhi since 2016, but continue to be widely used. This is the second death caused by this kind of thread in Delhi this month. 

35-year-old Vipin Kumar from Rajdhani Park in Nagloi was on his way to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with his sister in Loni. He was riding his bike with his wife behind him on the Shastri Park flyover when the sharp string struck his neck, immediately injuring him.

With the help of those around her, his wife got him to the trauma center at Civil Lines where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

According to the police, the body has been sent for post-mortem and the matter is being investigated.

Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court asked the city police to inform it about the steps taken to implement the National Green Tribunal's banning sale of Chinese synthetic manjha used for kite flying.

The court was hearing a PIL which sought a complete ban on flying, sale, purchase, storage, and transportation of kites as many people and birds are killed or injured due to accidents caused by glass-coated strings.

Chinese 'manjha' refers to strings coated with finely crushed glass or metals popular among kite fliers.

The Delhi government had banned the Chinese manja in 2016 after two children aged three and four were killed in separate accidents on Independence Day.

The children were looking out of sunroofs in the cars they were traveling when the deadly threads slit their throats, the police said.