Courts and state govts have banned Chinese manja but enforcement has struggled to keep pace with demand
VARANASI/HYDERABAD/BIDAR: Razor-sharp Chinese manja – glass-coated kite string, banned but still widely used – sliced through necks and faces Wednesday, killing at least three people in UP, Telangana and Karnataka while injuring well over 100 across states as Makar Sankranti celebrations and routine travel collided with lethal strands dangling across roads and bridges.In UP, 28-year-old doctor Sameer Hashmi bled to death after Chinese manja cut his throat near a public school campus. Hashmi, a resident of Kerakat town, was riding his bike back from Jaunpur city when the string tightened around his neck. Rushed to the district hospital, he died during treatment.“Despite a continuing drive and seizures from kite shops and vendors, such cases are happening,” said Jaunpur ASP Goldi Gupta, urging the public to inform authorities about illegal sellers and users.Jaunpur has now recorded two such deaths within a month. On Dec 11, school teacher Sandeep Tripathi, 45, was killed when manja slit his throat as he crossed Sadhbhavna bridge over the Gomti river, after dropping his daughter at school.Migrant worker Avadhesh Kumar, 38, from Lakhimpur district in UP was killed Wednesday, just hours after reaching Sangareddy district of Telangana for farm work. Police said Chinese manja stretched across a village road sliced his neck as he rode a motorcycle to a market. He was declared dead on arrival at a govt hospital. Kumar’s 19-year-old son, who had travelled with him, filed a police complaint.In northern Karnataka, Chinese manja cut short a father’s festival journey. Sanjiva Kumar, 48, a gram panchayat worker from Bambulagi village, died Wednesday on a flyover near Talamadagi in Bidar district. He had set out on his motorbike to bring home his 16-year-old daughter from a residential school for Sankranti. Thrown from the bike after the string sliced his neck, he managed to call his daughter, saying he might be delayed – his final call. He was declared dead at Chitaguppa taluk hospital.Varanasi saw a close call. Jitendra Maurya suffered deep cuts to his eyelids and nose when manja struck him on Samneghat bridge while he was riding a motorcycle.Telangana police said at least 10 injuries linked to the string have been reported in recent weeks, including a police officer who required 10 stitches to his neck and a four-year-old boy who needed 12 stitches after a deep gash.More than 100 people in Jaipur, many of them bikers, were treated for facial and neck cuts caused by snapped strings. A seven-month-old baby suffered a throat cut. “I was riding pillion when my friend’s nose was cut,” said Ramesh Saini, a resident.(With inputs from Jaipur)
