Mumbai: Toddler survives five-storey fall

TNN, Mid-Day

Mumbai, 23 August 2011: An 18-month-old boy survived a 45-foot fall after being thrown from the fourth-floor balcony of a Byculla building by a maid on Sunday afternoon. Rehan Khakra fell on concrete, yet escaped with a minor concussion and shallow cuts. Doctors speculated the fall might have been broken by a tin shed and a bicycle, but called the incident nothing short of a miracle.

 

 

The maid, Ruksana (name changed), who is 13, said she committed the act in revenge for being continuously reprimanded by Rehan’s family. She has been put in a juvenile remand home. She was hired a week ago by the Khakras, who reside at Honda Mansion, Byculla. Her grandmother visits the family every year to collect zakat (alms).

 

On August 15, the g r a n d m o t h e r brought her along and requested Rehan’s mother , Tehseen, to employ her. "The old woman said the girl was an orphan and had nobody to look after her. She requested us for help. Though we have enough domestic help, we took pity on her and gave her a job to look after our children and play with them," said Rehan’s aunt Parveen; the Khakras are a joint family.

 

She said Ruksana was careless and would often drop articles and break them. On Sunday, after the family finished sehri (pre-dawn meal during Ramzan) around 4.30 am, Ruksana broke a piece of glassware, upon which Tehseen lost her temper and shouted at her for her carelessness .

 

Around 11 am, after Tehseen left home to drop her daughter off for tuitions, Ruksana took Rehan to the balcony and played with him for about 30 minutes. Then she picked him up and placed him on the railing, hoping he would lose balance and fall down. When Rehan did not fall after 10 minutes, Ruksana, after looking around to ensure no one was watching, pushed him off. Assuming he had died, she went inside.

 

Rehan survived a fall from the fourth floor of Honda Mansion at Byculla. The spot where the toddler landed

 

A few minutes later, Rehan’s sister Rumina received a call from the neighbours on the ground floor, who said he was lying seriously injured. Rehan’s father and aunt rushed downstairs in disbelief and shock, and found him covered in blood. "His eyes were rolled up and we could not feel his pulse. He had bitten his tongue... there was blood everywhere. We were scared he would choke on his own blood," said Rehan’s father , Abdul, who took him to the Prince Aly Khan Hospital.

 

After a CT scan and preliminary investigations, doctors declared that Rehan had a minor concussion and superficial injuries and that he would heal in a week. He is at present in paediatric ICU.

 

Ruksana confessed to her crime and begged the family to not approach the police. But an attempt-to-murder case was registered against her, with the Nagpada police station, and she was sent to the Mankhurd remand home.

 

Since the Khakras had employed a minor, they might land up in legal trouble. "We have found that they took the girl in to help her; she was basically hired to play with the children. In case something else comes up in the course of our investigation, things might change," said inspector Sanjay Kadam of the Nagpada police station.