Mumbai: Two days after the death of six-year-old Janhavi Mahendra Mistri, who fell off a horse in Colaba, the police and the Brihanamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Tuesday that there will be regular inspections to ensure that horse riders do not return.
The horse rider, Soham Jaiswal (30), has told the police that a pothole in Rajiv Gandhi garden, also known as Cooperage garden, caused the animal to fall on Sunday. Janhavi suffered severe injuries to the head. Her parents took her to Bombay Hospital, where she succumbed late on Sunday night.
Janhavi’s parents stay at Khetwadi-Girgaum and her father Mahendra Mistri is CEO of a private firm.
Investigations are on, but the police said that the accused failed to take protection measures. “Had he provided the girl with a riding gear such as helmet and knee pads, this tragedy could have been prevented,” senior inspector Vijay Dhopavkar, Colaba, said.
BMC officials have claimed that all the horse riders in the garden are operating illegally. “We have stopped issuing licence for horse riding. We will step up our efforts to ensure that this activity does not take place anywhere in the city,” Vijay Singhal, additional municipal commissioner, BMC, said.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said the tragedy could have been prevented by the BMC. “The unfortunate event could have been avoided had the BMC implemented the government rehabilitation scheme, and the local police stopped illegal rides on beaches. PETA India is writing to BMC and the traffic police to implement the High Court order and the relevant laws,” Manilal Valliyate, chief executive officer, PETA India, said.
The PETA also said that none of the stables in the city are licensed by the BMC under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. “Presence of horses indicates that the law on stable licensing and the orders of the Bombay High Court are not implemented, compromising the health and safety of animals and humans,” Dr. Valliyate said. Mr. Jaiswal has been booked under Section 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.
