Girl, 4, dies after Republic Day loud speaker falls on her in Mumbai

According to the Vikhroli police, after the flag-hoisting ceremony on the lane, a speaker had been mounted on a three-legged stand and was playing patriotic songs. It was connected by a common power cable to another speaker placed across the road. At around 11:30am, a man carrying a bundle of clothes walked past and the bundle got caught in the wire, causing the heavy speakers to topple. One of the speakers fell on the child, Janhavi Sonkar who was walking behind the man, heading to a nearby park.

The police said that Janhavi, who lived with her parents, uncle and grandmother in the area, was rushed to a nearby hospital and later shifted to Godrej Memorial Hospital in Vikhroli, where she was declared dead. After a post-mortem at Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, her last rites were performed by family members.

“My daughter had just secured admission to a CBSE school and was eagerly waiting to start classes in June,” Jahnavi’s father, Rajesh Kumar Sonkar, a mobile phone repairer, told the police. “On Monday, Republic Day songs were being played near my house and the local Devi Puja Mandal at the Jay Bharat Devi Mandir and even called the newly elected corporator, Chandrashekhar Jadhav for flag hoisting,” said Rajesh, adding that their joint family had been living in that locality for 35 years.