NRI family saddened by the death of 15-month old baby who slipped from her mother’s arms.
Kerala : A small girl child died in the Lulu International Shopping Mall Kochi, Kerala, on Sunday by falling from the second floor of the mall’s escalator while the Non-Resident Indian family went there to shop.
The 15-month-old Swaya Fathima, youngest of the three children in the family, was in her mother’s arms when she suddenly slipped from her hand, falling on the escalator while the mother was trying to get on it at the second floor.
The toddler sustained severe internal head injuries to which she succumbed after two hours. The baby was rushed to the nearby Amritha Hospital, but doctors could not save her life, due to the severity of internal head injuries caused by the steep fall.
Sub-inspector Vijaya Shankar from the Kalamashery Police Station has been quoted by local media as saying that the baby slipped from her mother’s hand as soon as she got on the escalator. Sources in Kochi said the mall is overcrowded during the weekends, especially on Sundays.
The NRI family was longing to visit the Lulu International Shopping Mall for quite some time and ultimately drove all the way from Malappuram district on Sunday.
“The mother could be using an escalator for the first time and initially she tried to use the staircase to be on the safer side. However, other family members encouraged her to return to the escalator, about which they appeared to be thrilled. There are lifts, staircases and escalators to facilitate smooth movement of customers to different floors,” said a source in the mall.
Mustafa, the father of the girl, works in Saudi Arabia and was in Kerala for Eid holidays when the tragedy stuck the youngest member of the family. The baby’s body has been handed over to the family.
According to media reports from Kochi, the baby fell head on to the first floor and was still alive after the fall. Mustafa (39) and his wife Rubia (32) belong to Kattachira House, Valancherry, in the Malappuram district of Kerala.
According to reports, there will be no police case filed as eyewitness accounts confirmed it as an accident. The incident happened at 12.15pm India time and the baby was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, according to Amrita Hospital officials quoted in the Indian media.
