A 45-year-old woman died after an iron angle from the arch of a Dahi Handi stage fell on her while the structure was being dismantled in Old Sangvi, Pimpri-Chinchwad, on Friday night, police said. The incident occurred at about 10.45 pm after the Dahi Handi event at Lane Number Two had concluded.
The deceased has been identified as Salma Pathan. According to information provided by Sangvi police station senior inspector Jitendra Koli, Pathan and her husband, Salauddin Pathan, had attended the event organised by the Vighnaharta Dahi Handi Mitra Mandal. She was returning home after the programme when the dismantling work began and an iron angle from the stage arch fell on her.
Pathan sustained serious injuries in the incident. She was being taken to Aundh Hospital for treatment when she died, police said. The incident took place shortly after the Dahi Handi was broken at the venue, with the programme reportedly ending at around 10.15 pm.
Police said the family has not yet indicated that it is prepared to file a complaint. The deceased woman’s son is a worker associated with the organisers’ Dahi Handi group, according to the report. In the absence of a complaint, police have registered an accidental death report and said that further appropriate action will be taken after examining the circumstances.
Questions remain over whether the stage had the necessary permission, who had been assigned the work of dismantling the arch and whether adequate safety precautions were followed. Inspector Koli said police would investigate these aspects and take further action based on the findings.
The incident highlights the risks that can arise when temporary event structures are dismantled in public areas while attendees and residents are still leaving. The available information does not establish whether any permission or safety protocol was breached. Those matters will be determined through the police inquiry.
Police have not announced an arrest or registered a criminal case based on the information currently available. The next steps will depend on the inquiry into the stage structure, the dismantling work and the circumstances leading to the fatal injury.
