The tragic incident took place in the northern city of Chandigarh as the victim – named by local media outlets only as Harry – was standing outside the clothes shop in Shastri market where he worked. He was rushed to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education, but died four days later.
It is thought the monkey hurled the missile as it tried to open a water tank which was weighted down by the brick. Paramjit Singh, a relative of the victim, told the local Tribune newspaper: “The monkey removed it and threw it down, which unfortunately hit Harry.”
The teenager is survived by his parents and by an elder brother who also works at a shop in the Shastri market. The accident is said to be the latest in a wave of incidents involving stray cattle, feral dogs and monkeys. Mr Singh blamed the local authorities for failing control primates in the city. “Troops of monkeys have been scaring residents with their terrorising antics,” he said.
A total of 159 monkey-bite cases were reported in Chandigarh over the course of just six months during 2013 – with one man claiming his wife had been seriously injured after being chased into the house and attacked by a group of animals when she went to hang her washing out.
And the Tribune reports that three people have died in the area in the last three years as a result of road accidents in which they rammed their motorcycles into stray cattle in the middle of the road.
