An 18-month-old girl died after she was allegedly pushed into an open duct on the sixth floor of a Slum Rehabilitation Authority building in Goregaon East, Mumbai, on Wednesday night, police said. The toddler fell to the ground floor at around 9.30 pm, according to the Dindoshi police, who are investigating the incident.
Police said the toddler had been playing on the sixth floor when her 10-year-old neighbour allegedly pushed her into the open duct. The girl sustained fatal injuries in the fall. The incident came to light after the building’s CCTV footage was examined, the police said.
The Dindoshi police have registered an accidental death report. A senior inspector from the police station said the 10-year-old girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee, or CWC, following the incident.
The CWC will conduct an inquiry and decide the further course of action, police said. The involvement of the committee reflects the separate legal and welfare processes that apply when a child is involved in an incident under investigation.
The reported fall also places the condition and accessibility of the building’s open duct at the centre of the immediate safety investigation. The supplied police account does not provide details on the duct’s dimensions, the presence of barriers or covers, or whether any earlier complaints had been made about the opening.
The incident occurred in an SRA building, a form of housing associated with Mumbai’s slum rehabilitation programme. However, the police account does not state the building’s name, the agency responsible for maintaining the duct or whether any structural safety inspection has been ordered.
Police have not disclosed further details about the circumstances leading to the alleged act or the relationship between the two children beyond identifying the 10-year-old as a neighbour. The investigation remains with the Dindoshi police, while the Child Welfare Committee is expected to determine the further course of action concerning the minor involved.
