A four-year-old girl in Chennai is in critical condition in hospital after a man slipped from the balcony of a third-floor house and fell right on top of the child at around 9 pm on Sunday.
Dhanyashri and her grandfather were about to enter the departmental store on the ground floor of the building at Sanjivirayan Koil Street, Tondiarpet, when R Shiva, fell on the child from the third floor. Shiva, a 24-year-old tailor, escaped with minor injuries because he landed on the child, according to a report by TNIE.
The child is severely wounded and is in critical condition.
“She has not yet regained consciousness,” said A Sridhar, Dhanyashri’s father on Monday.
Residents also informed the police that Shiva appeared to be drunk when he came back home on Sunday evening. He was allegedly leaning on the balcony’s parapet wall when he accidentally slipped and fell.
Eyewitnesses stated that the girl and her grandfather were just moments away from stepping into the shop when the accident occurred.
“I heard loud screams and rushed out. We immediately alerted ambulance and took her to hospital,” said a staff in the departmental store.
According to a report in The Hindu, the child lost consciousness and was taken to Apollo Hospitals in Tondiarpet. Later, she was moved to the main branch of the hospital on Greams Road. Hospital authorities said that she had sustained a swelling in her brain and suffered fractures in the spine and leg.
Shiva has only sustained a minor leg fracture.
Based on Dhanyashri's father's complaint, the Chennai police have filed a case against Shiva under Section 338 of the IPC (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).
Dhanyashri’s father sells water cans in the area and her mother is a homemaker.
In a similar incident, a drunk man fell from a lodge in Padma junction in Kochi. He landed on the ground and was lying there for almost 15 minutes amidst the indifferent crowd, who did not bother to take him to the hospital.
Saji, from Thrissur, fainted and fell from a corridor of a Kochi lodge and was lying on the side of the road until help arrived. In an interview to Manorama, he later confessed that he was under the influence of alcohol.