Pune (Maharashtra) [India], September 5 : A 45-year-old woman died after a portion of an iron structure assembled for a Dahi Handi celebration collapsed on her while it was being dismantled in Pune's Old Sangvi area, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place on Friday night after the Dahi Handi celebration concluded.
According to police, workers were dismantling the iron arch structure installed for the event when a rod from the structure fell on the woman, who was present at the spot along with her husband. She sustained serious injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Police said the incident occurred after the Dahi Handi programme ended and the organisers began removing the stage arch.
While speaking to ANI, Jitendra Koli, Senior Police Inspector, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police, said, “In the  Old Sangvi area, there is a Vighnaharta Dahi Handi Mandal, where their Dahi Handi event was underway. After breaking the Dahi Handi, they were dismantling the arch, the stage arch. At that time, a woman named Salma Pathan and her husband, Salauddin Pathan, had both come there to watch the Dahi Handi. After the event concluded, Salauddin Pathan called his wife, Salma Pathan, to go home. As she was approaching, they were dismantling the arch. A rod from that arch fell on her, and she was injured. She was admitted to hospital for treatment.”
Police said the woman's family has decided not to file a complaint against the organisers. They said their son is associated with the mandal and the family did not want the members involved in organising the event to face difficulties.
SI Koli further said that the family had requested police not to register a case suo motu and clarified that the incident involved the collapse of an iron rod from the arch structure and not any sound system.
“Salma Pathan and Salauddin Pathan's son, Rahim Pathan, is also a worker for that Mandal, and all those boys celebrate Dahi Handi there together. Therefore, Salauddin Pathan clearly told us that they don't want to file any complaint. He doesn't want the president or the workers, the boys of the Mandal, to face any trouble. It wasn't a sound system. It was the rod, the arch rod, that fell while being removed. There was no sound system involved there,” SI added.