A 3-year-old girl child, who consumed snuff, a powdered form of tobacco, died at the government hospital at Mint here on Tuesday.
Police said Latha, the fourth child of Annamalai and Rani, who are pavement vendors at Mint area, consumed the snuff, while she was playing with the snuff box of her maternal grandmother Pushpa. She is the third girl child in the same family, who died under similar circumstances.
The child was left alone on July 19 by her mother, who went to a nearby grocery shop.
She had reportedly opened the snuff box and consumed a good portion of its contents. When Rani came back from the shop, she found her daughter frothing at her mouth and the empty snuff box lying beside her. Latha was also puking heavily and was in an unconscious condition when she was rushed to Government Stanley Medical College Hospital.
Despite the intensive care, the child died at the hospital on Tuesday night. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem on Wednesday.
Close relatives of the family, charged that the careless attitude of Rani had cost the girl child’s life.
Two girl children of the family including a newborn, who was unnamed and and another girl child Khushboo, who was one-and-a-half years old, had had died in a similar fashion, consuming something from the pavement, according to the neighbours.