Chennai: An amusement ride in a summer exhibition on the premises of a college on Kamarajar Salai turned fatal for a 42-year-old woman, M. Fousia, who suffered a fall from a height leading to her death. Following the incident, Police arrested three persons including the owner and the ride operators on Monday.
Fousia Begum of Pudur 3rd Street, Ashok Nagar was among an eight member all woman group who visited the exhibition on Sunday evening. She couldn’t fit into seat and found it difficult to wear safety belt, says kin.
The woman got on for a ‘Frisbee’ ride, (a pendulum ride which spirals upwards) around 8 pm whereas her 15-year-old daughter abstained from it. “She could not fit into the seat and found it difficult to wear the safety seat belt. She however went onto take the ride when she suffered a fall from a height of about 30 feet,” said Shagul Hammed, her brother-in-law.
Shagul Hameed’s two daughters - Sikander Banu (25) and Parveen Banu (23) - were accompanying Fousia on Sunday when she met with the accident. “My daughter Parveen too sat on the ride and got down when she felt afraid,” said Shagul Hameed who lives with his wife at Tondiarpet. The ride operators who should have stopped her taking the ride were to be blamed as they failed to adhere to safety procedures, said a senior police officer.
After the fall, Fousia was conscious for a few minutes until she took a sip of water. She was rushed through the heavy crowd to a private hospital in Adyar where she was declared brought dead. Fousia’s body was later moved to the Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem. “There were injuries on her forehead and spine. The bones in her rib cage got crushed which led to injuries to her internal organs,” the family members quoted the doctors as saying. Fousia’s husband Mohammed Salil runs a plastic business and was out at work when the incident happened.
Marina police conducted enquiries and arrested the ride operators, Prakash Kumar (24) Manoj (32) and the owner, Mani. All three of them were remanded in judicial custody.
Eyewitness petitions DGP
Following Sunday’s incident, the summer exhibition on Lady Willingdon college grounds remained shut on Monday. The exhibition, which claims to be specially designed for children, began on May 1 and was scheduled to run until June 14. “There must have been at least 5,000 people in the exhibition on Sunday. After the accident, it was an ordeal to even get the lady out of the gates due to the crowd,” said a security guard on duty there.
One of the eyewitnesses to Sunday's incident, K. Sakthivasan (45) alias Vasan on Monday approached the DGP's office with a petition requesting the top cop to look into the safety procedures in place for such amusement rides set up during summer exhibitions.
