A 38-year-old lab technician who was on a motorcycle lost her life in Karnataka’s Hubballi on Thursday after a banned abrasive kite string, popularly called ‘manjha’, wrapped around her neck and slit her throat.

According to the police, the incident occurred while Vidya Manjunath Gowdar, a resident of Bharat Nagar in Hubballi city, was heading to work on her two-wheeler. She lost control of the vehicle after the Chinese manjha wire got entangled around her neck, and she fell onto the road. She bled heavily and died before she could be taken to a hospital.

Following the incident, the residents have demanded a complete ban on manjha in the city, or else there could be more deaths.

Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Borase Bhushan Gulabrao warned that criminal cases will be filed against anyone flying kites with manjha, as well as sellers of the abrasive string.

He emphasised that students using the abrasive string would also not be exempted, and those responsible will face strict legal consequences.…