KOCHI: The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to deposit Rs five lakh in the joint account in the name of Ayyappan and Leela, the parents of Dr P A Baiju who died after testing an Ayurvedic medicine by consuming it. Dr Baiju, 46, a former medical officer of Government Ayurvedic Dispensary at Bison Valley in Idukki died on September 12 after remaining in coma for nine years.
On January 24, 2007, he had prescribed “rasna panchakam” to Santha for an orthopedic problem. She bought it from a store and consumed it. However, she fainted after this and her relatives informed Dr Baiju of the incident. The doctor asked them to bring the medicine and he consumed it in front of them in an effort to convince that his medicine was harmless.
But he collapsed soon afterward.The incident occurred nine months after Baiju secured a government job. The police, which conducted a probe into the complaint from Dr Baiju's wife Dr Shiny, arrested Rajappan, the husband of the patient on April 5, 2007.
They then found that Rajappan had allegedly spiked the medicine with pesticide to kill Santha. She escaped as she took only a small portion. A day after the death of Dr Baiju, section 302 of IPC (murder) was slapped on Rajappan, facing trial for charges under IPC 307 ( murder attempt) and IPC 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).