A two-wheeler rider suffered serious injuries after his neck got entangled in Chinese manja at Adugodi, Southeast Bengaluru, recently.
A video of the victim narrating his plight from a hospital bed has gone viral on social media. A doctor can be seen treating the wound on his hand.
According to the victim, he was riding (with his helmet on) in front of the Adugodi police station when "a kite string suddenly coiled itself around my neck. It got tighter by the second and was soon slashing my throat".
"I started to bleed," he's heard saying in the video.
He continued: “My first instinct was to protect my neck, so I started pulling the string with my hand." That made it worse. Two of his fingers were grievously slit and he might lose them.
The victim urged the government to ban kite flying. "I request the government officials and leaders to ban the flying of kites in the city. I was lucky that I survived. What if it was young children in my place? Both birds and humans face the same plight because of these kites," he said.
The lockdown brought kite flying back in demand as most people stayed indoors. But the manja (abrasive string) has proved dangerous both for birds and humans.