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MUMBAI: In an avoidable tragedy that shows up the glaring neglect of elevators in the city, a 12-year-old girl died after she pushed her head out of the broken windowpane in the lift door in an SRA building in Bandra East on Friday afternoon. Kunut Zaveri reportedly wanted to see whether the lift was on its way down, when its incoming carriage hit her head. Sources said the child’s scream was cut off abruptly.

Nirmal Nagar police have prima facie registered an accidental death report and are probing residents’ allegations that the builder had not maintained the lift properly, despite several reminders.

Not only was the glass on its window broken, the lift’s indicator had stopped working some time time back.

Kunut was living with her grandparents after her mother remarried when she was aged seven, said her aunt Rubina Sayyed. She used to refer to her grandparents as parents. Kunut, who was to enter Class VII class next month, was buried on Saturday morning.

According to the police, Kunut, who lived on the sixth floor of Ashiyana building in Behrampada, wanted go downstairs to buy some sweets. She was waiting for the lift with her cousin, Afana Zaveri. “It was vacation time and hence the children were at home. She asked me for money as she wanted to have some sweets,” said Rubina.

When Kunut put her head inside the space, it was hit hard by the incoming carriage and it then got stuck. Neighbours immediately rushed her to Babha Hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival, said the police.

Residents have complained this was not a stray incident; last week a little boy and a senior citizen had sustained injuries. Praveen Shaikh, a resident, said, “No officer or inspector has ever come to inspect the lift. Only mechanics visit to repair it when it is not working. The glass on the main door window was broken and the indicator was inoperative since a year.” Another resident said, “We are always worried when our kids go down to get something. We don’t allow them to use the life on their own.”

Afana was the sole witness to this accident.

