Kite string slays motorcyclist

Victim was passing through Mughalpura with newlywed wife

LAHORE:

A 24-year-old man died after kite string slit his neck in Allama Iqbal Town on Thursday.

Danial Yasir, who was married two months back, was riding his motorcycle with his wife sitting behind him when kite string ran over his neck near a bus stop. He fell down and succumbed to the injury.

With the advent of spring, cases of kite-string injuries and deaths have started being reported despite claims of crackdown by the police and a zero-tolerance policy by the government.

Last Friday, a motorcyclist had been injured after kite string ran over his neck in Mughalpura. The victim, Sajjad Ahmad, was heading to work from his home on a two-wheeler in Mughalpura when kite string suddenly came in way and ran over his neck.

The same day,  a 25-year-old man died after kite string ran over his neck in Sargodha.

After the latest incident, Inspector General of Punjab (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan, as per a routine observed over the past decade, immediately took notice of the death of the citizen due to metallic string and sought a report from the Lahore police chief. On his orders, the DSP and SHO of Iqbal Town were suspended.

A spokesperson for the IGP said he had also sought a report from Lahore Police on the steps taken to curb kite flying.

After the initial inquiry report, DIG Operations Dr Abid Khan demoted SHO Inspector Anjum Tauqeer to the rank of Sub Inspector. A spokesperson for the Operations Wing. said the DIG had directed the Iqbal Town SP to conduct the inquiry. The inspector was punished for negligence of duty

The DIG also ordered the SHOs to crack down on kite flying. He warned that strict action would be taken against the officers concerned in case of injury or death due to kite flying. He also instructed the SPs to launch awareness campaigns about the threat to people’s lives posed by kite flying in addition to intensifying the crackdown against violators of the ban.

He also ordered the police to remove kite strings hanging from electric poles and flyovers.

Frustrated over continung incidents of kite flying and kite-string injuries despite a strict crackdown, Punjab Police has twice in recent years submitted written suggestions to the government to enhance punishments for the use of metallic string and kite flying.

The Punjab police top brass reportedly thinks that the hazardous activity could not be eradicated despite crackdowns over the past two decades because the anti-kite flying laws were weak.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2022.