COIMBATORE: A 19-year-old college student in the Coimbatore district died allegedly due to choking caused by allergic reaction after eating parotta. After preliminary investigation, police said doctors at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) who performed the postmortem said they found maida particles in his lungs and that it could have caused breathing trouble resulting in death. Police said they would wait for the postmortem report, which is expected in a couple of days, to ascertain the exact cause of death.
According to police, Hemachandran (19) son of Ramasami from Karuvayurappan Nagar in Kanakkampalayam in Tirupur was studying second-year B.Tech in a private college near Sulur and stayed in a rented house with his friends at Kannampalayam. On Wednesday night Hemachandran and his friends ate parotta for dinner. On Thursday around 7 am, he woke up complaining of breathing trouble and collapsed. Friends rushed him to a nearby private hospital where he was declared dead.
Sulur police sent the body to CMCH for postmortem. Police said Hemachandran suffered breathing issue six months ago after consuming parotta at night. Hence he avoided eating maida products, especially parotta.
On Friday, parents of the deceased raised doubts after finding an injury on his thumb. But police clarified that it was caused while he was taken to the hospital by friends on a bike. Police have registered the case under section 174 CrPC (Natural death).
Explaining a possible reason, a city-based gastroenterologist, who wished anonymity, told TNIE “ Food particles that pass through the esophagus into the stomach are less likely to return to the trachea (windpipe). Very rarely, food may enter the respiratory tract if there is an obstruction, such as hiccups during eating. It can cause suffocation. Some people may be allergic to certain food items, but it is not known whether it will cause death. There may be other causes of death. It will be revealed only in the post-mortem report.”