LAHORE/ISLAMABAD, 27 February 2007 — Religious groups staged protests yesterday after 14 people, including a child, were killed and 200 injured during an annual kite flying festival. The seven-year-old boy died when a kite string coated in broken glass slashed his throat during the Basant festival near Lahore, police officer Ahmed Hasan said.
Stray bullets fired in the air killed four people, six kite flyers fell to their deaths from rooftops and a young man died in a brawl, Hasan added. Another two men were electrocuted after the metal rods they were using to catch stray kites caught on power lines, officials in Lahore added.
Lahore police chief Malik Iqbal said nearly 600 people were arrested for firing guns in the air or using banned kite strings. “We have held countrywide rallies to condemn the practice of kite-flying and the loss of innocent lives because of it,” said Shahid Shamsi, a spokesman for the Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal. Rallies were held in the capital Islamabad, Lahore and all major urban centers in Punjab, he said.
Girl Pleads for Help
A teenage girl in southern Pakistan, whose late father lost her in a poker game when she was 2 years old, has asked authorities to save her from being handed over to a middle-aged relative.
Rasheeda, 17, said she has filed applications with the police and a local councilor asking them to prevent Lal Haider, 45, from taking her to his home.
