Karnataka temple food poisoning tragedy: Grief, disbelief hang over Chamarajangar border villages

Farming activities and normal life came to a halt in villages at the foot of MM Hills on Saturday after news on the tragedy spread like wildfire.
Maaramma temple wears a deserted look
Maaramma temple wears a deserted look

MYSURU:  The death of 11 people at Sulvadi village in Kollegal taluk of Chamarajangar district on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, where poisoned prasadam was served at the Kichuguthu Maaramma temple on Friday, has sent shock waves across the border areas. On Friday, 10 people had died after consuming the prasadam. The toll increased with one more death on Saturday. A few of the devotees who were from Tamil Nadu have been admitted in hospitals in neighbouring Erode district.

Farming activities and normal life came to a halt in villages at the foot of MM Hills on Saturday after news on the tragedy spread like wildfire. As the bodies of seven people hailing from Bidrahalli, Vaddaradoddi, Kottepodi, MG Doddi and Somvarpalya were brought in ambulances with police security, hundreds of people gathered at the entrance of Vodakkehalla and Bidarahalli to pay their last respects to the victims.

With most of the families being landless, the government allotted a small piece of barren land to conduct the last rites of the deceased. The district administration and the police had arranged for logs of wood and made basic arrangements for the families to conduct the cremation. As the bodies, covered in white cloth, were placed on the pyres, the family members and villagers could be heard wailing that the presiding deity Maaramma did not come to their rescue.

 It was a heart-wrenching scene when Mada, a 55-year-old disabled man, who lost his wife Gopi, the only breadwinner in the family, and his two children lit the pyre at the mass funeral. Nuns from a nearby church in Vadaradoddi were also in tears as many of their students had lost their parents in the tragedy. 

At  a glance: 

  • Of the 104 people being treated in various hospitals, 30 are critical
  • Maaramma temple was deserted on Saturday
  • Chamarajanagar SP Manoj Kumar Meena said five people, including Chinnappi and Mahadesh, are in custody 
  • Food samples and remains of dead birds sent to CFTRI and also to labs in Bengaluru for tests
  • Doctors attending on patients suspect phosphorus content  may have been present in the food

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