The family of a two‑year‑old girl who died after falling from a 19th‑floor apartment window in North York has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the building’s owners and property managers, alleging years of ignored warnings, unsafe glass, and failures to maintain or upgrade windows that they say directly led to the child’s death.
The Statement of Claim, filed in Ontario Superior Court on Aug. 12, outlines allegations against 373041 Ontario Limited, GH Capital Corporation, and two property managers, Julita‑Luise Pieckenhagen and Megan Anderson. The family is seeking more than $18.5 million in damages.
The lawsuit stems from the fatal incident on May 10, when two‑year‑old Khanak Rakshit fell through a bedroom window in her family’s unit at 50 Graydon Hall Drive.
Her parents, Deepali Kashyap and Rakshit Chauhan, told CityNews at the time that Khanak had been playing in the bedroom when she “gently touched” the window — and the glass suddenly shattered. The toddler fell 19 storeys to the ground below.
“Khanak gently touched a window in the bedroom and the glass suddenly and without warning broke, causing her to fall through the window opening and plummet nineteen stories to her death,” the claim states.
Both parents were in the room when the glass broke. The claim says they witnessed their daughter fall and were unable to reach her in time. They allege they have suffered “serious and permanent psychological injuries,” including depression, anxiety, PTSD, nightmares, and ongoing emotional trauma.
The lawsuit alleges the building’s owners and managers allowed unsafe, inadequate glass to remain in units for years, ignored warnings from engineers, safety experts, and residents and failed to install safety locks or upgrade windows to safer materials and obstructed or discouraged an independent investigation after the child’s death, among other transgressions.
The claim further alleges the defendants were aware of previous incidents involving unsafe windows at the building and did not take corrective action.
The family is seeking $3 million in general, aggravated, and mental distress damages, $3 million in special damages, $2.5 million under the Family Law Act and $5 million in punitive damages.
Khanak’s death was the second fatal fall involving a child in Toronto in a two‑week span. On April 27, a six‑year‑old girl died after falling from a 28th‑floor apartment in Rexdale. That case also raised concerns about window safety in older high‑rise buildings.
The allegations contained in the Statement of Claim have not been proven in court.
