Kite Strings Slit Throat of Man, 2 Children In India

In a single day, three people have lost their lives to sharp kite strings in India. The victims were two children, a man who were said to have died when manja – a kind of kite string made with glass slit their throats.


CNN reports that the 4-year-old boy had his throat slit while he was looking out of a car's sunroof and a 22-year-old man received a lethal cut on his neck while riding a motorbike.

The same day, a 3-year-old girl looking out the sunroof was strangled by a kite string which cut her neck, according to a deputy commissioner of North West Delhi Police.

The tragedies prompted the Delhi government to this week issue an immediate ban on the production, sale and storage of the razor-sharp strings which are used to try to cut down competitors' kites.

The Government said anyone caught with the strings, known locally as manjha, faced a five-year jail term and a 100,000-rupee (AU$1,956) fine.