The death of an 18-month-old toddler in a Goregaon housing society is being investigated by Mumbai Police after CCTV footage allegedly showed a 10-year-old neighbour lifting the child and pushing her down a stairwell from the sixth floor. No first information report had been registered at the time of the report, while the 10-year-old was produced before the Child Welfare Committee for further enquiry.
The incident took place on Wednesday night in Goregaon East. The toddler lived with her parents and four brothers on the sixth floor of the building. According to a relative, she had been playing in the common corridor outside the flats with a stray cat before her mother asked one of her brothers to look for her.
The family initially could not find the child. Her brother later looked down the stairwell and saw someone lying on the ground floor. The child’s clothes appeared to match those worn by his sister, after which he informed his mother, the relative told police, according to the report.
Residents took the injured toddler to a doctor. She had sustained serious head injuries and was declared dead. Police were informed and an accidental death record was initially registered.
During the preliminary inquiry, investigators questioned how the child could have fallen from the sixth floor because the railing was reportedly high. Police then retrieved CCTV footage from the building. The footage, as described by police, showed a 10-year-old girl living on the same floor lifting the toddler and pushing her into the stairwell or duct area. Police said the girl returned home without informing anyone about the incident.
The girl and her family had moved into the building around two weeks before the incident. Police are investigating the sequence of events, including whether any adult was involved, said a senior police official. DCP Gajanan Rajmane said the footage showed the 10-year-old lifting the toddler and pushing her down into the duct area. The body was sent for a postmortem examination to establish the cause of death.
The case also raises specific questions about how the law applies when a child below the age of criminal responsibility is involved in a fatal incident. Children under seven cannot be prosecuted under criminal law. For children aged between seven and 12, the law requires a determination of whether the child understood the consequences of the act before criminal responsibility can be considered.
The Child Welfare Committee is expected to make enquiries with the 10-year-old and take the next decision under the applicable child-protection framework. Police said their investigation into the death and the circumstances captured on CCTV was continuing.
