CCTV footage first showed the couple taking a selfie on a corridor. They then reportedly wanted to take another selfie on an escalator, during which the mother lost her balance and dropped her baby. PHOTO: SCREENGRABS FROM DAILY MAIL VIDEO
A 10-month-old baby was caught on video falling to her death at a shopping mall in India on Thursday (May 10), after she slipped out of her mother's arms while on an escalator.
The incident occurred while the parents were preoccupied with taking a selfie, media reports said.
They decided to visit the shopping mall in Ganganagar district in the north-western state of Rajasthan that day, after taking their baby girl to a nearby clinic for a check-up, Daily Mail UK reported.
Closed-circuit television footage of the incident, which happened at around noon, first show the couple taking a selfie on a walkway next to an escalator.
The mother, dressed in orange, could be seen carrying her daughter.
The couple then walked off, before appearing again on camera to take the escalator to the floor above.
Witnesses said that the husband had asked his wife for a selfie while on the escalator, which caused her to lose her balance and drop the baby, who fell three storeys.
The baby had first hit the railing before falling through a gap.
CCTV footage show the parents reacting in shock and horror as they leaned over the railing to look for their daughter.
The girl reportedly died instantly after hitting the ground.
In a statement to The Sun, police said: "This is a clear-cut case of an accident."
Police added that the couple will not take any legal action.
In January, a Indian man was hit by an incoming train as he was trying to take a video selfie near the tracks.
He survived but was fined 500 rupees (RM30) for his actions.
A study by scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha Institute of Information Delhi found that India has the highest number of deaths linked to selfies in the world.
It found that of the 127 reported selfie deaths worldwide from March 2014 to September 2016, 60 per cent - or 76 of them - occurred in India.
In 2016, India's federal government asked states to ensure that there were warning signs at tourist spots deemed dangerous for selfie-lovers. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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