11-year-old boy dies imitating Spiderman

A young karate enthusiast in Sharjah accidentally hanged himself with his own karate belt while imitating his favourite cartoon character, Spiderman. His  parents had been away at work.

Daniel Baby, 11, tried to imitate a stunt by tying one end of the karate belt to  the door  and the other end as a noose around  his neck, before jumping down from a chair. Sharjah Police is investigating the death and the boy's body is kept in police morgue and will be repatriated to India.

The sixth standard student of Delhi Private School, Sharjah, has been learning karate. The boy had several karate belts of different colours that he used at different stages of karate learning.

The only son of Baby Kuriakkose and  Valsamma Joseph, hailing  from Palarivattaom, Kerala, the boy adored cartoon characters.  He made several paper cut-outs of Spiderman and other cartoon characters, that dominate his room.

His father is an accountant with a shipping company and his mother a nurse in Al Mawarid. The Indian family residing near Adnoc petrol station in Mysaloon area of Sharjah is grief-stricken. The boy's  schoolmates are also saddened by the tragic accident.

The unfortunate accident happened on Sunday afternoon when his mother Valsamma  was not at home. “Apparently, he hooked one end of the karate belt on his neck and the other end on top of the door, and jumped from a chair. The noose tightened and he could not release it. The boy’s leg was touching the ground, but he remained motionless,” said sources familiar with the accident. When his mother returned from work, the boy did not open the door and when she broke open the door with the help of neighbours, the boy was found trapped on his karate belt. Even though he was rushed to the hospital, he died.

“Karate dress and belt should be under the custody of the parents and they should not be given outside the instruction. It seems the boy was trying to imitate Spiderman when the accident happened. We teach karate for self-discipline and self discipline. The parents should monitor students when they are at home. It is a physical and mental development exercise,” said Shefin Ramakrishnan, Secretary, Karate Masters Association, which represents about 275 karate masters in various parts of UAE. Nearly 3,000 students are undergoing training under these karate clubs and schools.

“This is first such accidents reported here. In karate school they will be monitored by the masters. At home, they should be kept at safe places. It is also advised that parents discourage students from regularly  watching cartoon channels.

There are about 165 karate clubs in the UAE, 14 government clubs and the rest are Indian clubs. Four years onwards to 60-year-old students are engaged.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.