Another 'Accidental Death' in Matheran, Familiar Hush Follows
Mumbai’s Mohammed Shaikh died due to head injuries following a fall in a horse-back ride in Matheran. He hadn’t worn a helmet just like any other riding a horse at the hill-station. This, despite a rule on helmets and horse-handlers holding reins, writes Gajanan Khergamker
On 28 January 2023, Mumbai’s Mohammad Ali Road resident Mohammed Qasif Imtiaz Shaikh died at a hospital in Ulhasnagar. The 23-year-old had fallen off a horse while on a ride on his honeymoon in Matheran on 25 January 2023 and suffered severe head injuries.
Matheran Police Station's Assistant Police Inspector Shekhar Lavhe says that he is awaiting statements from the family members and would then decide whether to press charges of negligence on the horse handler/owner. Chances are they won't press charges and may decide to move on and never visit Matheran ever again. That is, till another person falls from a horse while on a ride in Matheran and...dies.
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| Nobody wears a helmet while riding a horse in Matheran. While the writing’s on the wall, the locals look the other way |
Predictably, an Accidental Death Report (ADR) was filed as soon as Mohammed Qasif Imtiaz Shaikh died in Ulhasnagar and the report was received by the Matheran Police. A hush has once again spread across Asia's only non-motorable hill-station Matheran - Mumbaikars best kept secret. Mohammed Qasif Imtiaz Shaikh's wasn't the first death to have occurred owing to horse-back riding at Matheran nor will be the last.
"I have personally visited the family of a person who died in a similar manner a few years ago," recalls retired teacher and Matheran resident Sunil Shinde who has been spearheading the entry of e-rickshaws to provide for safe and reliable transport to children and elderly at the hill-station. "Sadly, all they want to do is put the incident behind them and forget it for life. And, in the absence of a police complaint and statement from the family, the police have little to go by for any further investigation or action," he says.
Horse-owners and handlers have been in the news, resisting the entry of e-rickshaws on the hill-station for decades on end. It was Supreme Court's recent nod to the three-month trial of e-rickshaws, to ascertain the viability of the project that was positioned to put an end to the misery of the resident elderly, infirm and school-going children facing travails on a daily basis on the hill-station, that pushed the belligerent horse-owners and handlers on the back-foot.
The rule on horseback riding maintains that the owners and handlers have to provide riders with helmets and hold the reins at all times when the customer is riding the horse so that the horse cannot bolt off unfettered. But, at Ground Zero, nobody wears a helmet while riding a horse.
And, offering a defence of sorts, Matheran Resident Horse-Owners President Asha Kadam says, "Nobody wants to wear a helmet while riding a horse. And, if a handler insists the rider wears one, the rider will simply take another horse. Nobody wants to lose business by insisting on helmets and other things especially for riders who are regulars to Matheran."
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| First-time riders, some outright unfit even too young to ride alone are left to fend for themselves. And, when death due to a fall occurs, in the absence of a complaint, it’s 'accidental’ as usual! |
A visit to Matheran is synonymous with dodging horse-back riders galloping without any handler in sight, through crowded marketplaces even between 'points' enjoying their ride even as handlers trudge along a distance away with their whips in hand and horses out of sight.
On 8 May 2018, a local bungalow owner Sameer Bandekar distributed more than 200 helmets followed by another distribution drive on 24 May 2018 where he distributed yet another 200 helmets at his “own cost.”
"It was following the death of a girl child while riding a horse that led me to distribute helmets on my behalf. It was a simple move aimed to save lives," says Mr Bandekar who was swiftly left disillusioned to find that despite everyone collecting the helmets nobody bothered to ensure riders wear them. "I still have about 250 unused helmets in my godown," he says.
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| Bungalow-owner Sameer Bandekar with some horse-back riders in Matheran wearing helmets he donated |
“Sadly, the red sand for which Matheran was known has been washed away leaving behind rocks that pose huge risk to tourists and horse-back riders,” says Bandekar. Over the years, there has been a change in the topography of the hill-station whose historic red sand has been washed off leaving behind the hard rocky surface below. It’s an acute case of environmental damage.
Matheran Hill Station Municipal Council CEO Surekha Bhange admits, “the onus of ensuring there is no negligence rests upon the horse handler/owner and I will be holding meetings with all the stake-holders to ensure such kind of incidents are prevented in the future.”
* In December 2010, 40-year-old actor-director Manish Acharya died to head injuries sustained after he fell off a horse during a ride in Matheran.
It may be recalled that in April 2015, a seven-year-old UK national girl, who had come to visit Matheran with her family, died after falling from a horse. The girl succumbed to her injuries and was declared dead on arrival by a nearby hospital. India Gavin Mayhew was on a holiday in Matheran with her parents Gavin and Tesse and three siblings, a brother and two sisters, when she fell off the horse at around 4.30 pm near Olympiad Race Course and died. According to an eyewitness, the horse she was riding went uncontrolled and dragged the girl up to 100 metres, injuring her badly. Even then, the police asked the family if they felt there was any negligence by the horse-rider causing their daughter's death, the family maintained they had no complaint and did not want to register any complaint. That was a given, because any complaint would only jeopardise their imminent return to their hometown in Sussex with their daughter’s body.
* In February 2016, 32-year-old Kurla resident Neelam Singh died when she fell off a horse she was riding in Matheran.
* In April 2018, Mumbai's seven-year-old Lamington Road resident Rashida Radiowala suffered a brain injury and skull fractures when she fell off a horse after the animal went out of control during a ride in Matheran.
* In June 2019, Bhiwandi resident Ashraf Khan sustained a head injury after he fell off a horse in Matheran.
* In January 2020, a 62-year-old Chembur resident fell of the horse near Charlotte Lake and fractured her arm in Matheran.
If Mohammed Qasif Imtiaz Shaikh's family does not press charges of negligence, the matter will be dismissed as another accidental death. The hush in Matheran will ease into normalcy and life will be back to (ab)normal again.
The rule on helmets and handlers, to hold reins of horses being ridden at all times, is in place. Needless to say, there are no fines, penalties or licences being cancelled or suspended following serious accidents or fatalities. The police, on their part, await complaints from family who are only too traumatised to press charges and wish to let go a past that's too painful to relive. In the absence of complaints, the issue will be relegated to a statistics in a box in a news article.
Till another Mohammad, Manish or Mayhew falls from a horse and dies...and the family decides to stay away in shock and then...not press charges.
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