CHITRADURGA: Close on the heels of the Sulvadi temple tragedy in Chamarajanagar district, four people of a family in Hulithotlu village of Hiriyur taluk died after having a meal of jowar balls and bean curry for dinner. Three children are being treated at a private hospital in Davangere. Police suspect that poor quality of the jowar flour, reportedly given by a neighbour, may have resulted in the deaths but are investigating the incident from all angles to establish whether there was any foul play.
The deceased are Chithappa (80), Shashidhar (40), Bhagyamma (35) and Hemalatha (30). Three others — Ajay Kumar (11), Mudduraj (13) and Sumalatha (10) — are being treated at SSIMS in Davangere where Mudduraj is said to be serious and put on ventilator support.
Close on the heels of the Sulvadi temple tragedy in Chamarajanagar district, four people of a family in Hulithotlu village of Hiriyur taluk died after having a meal of jowar balls and bean curry for dinner. Three children are being treated at a private hospital in Davangere. Police suspect that poor quality of the jowar flour, reportedly given by a neighbour, may have resulted in the deaths but are investigating the incident from all angles to establish whether there was any foul play.
The deceased are Chithappa (80), Shashidhar (40), Bhagyamma (35) and Hemalatha (30). Three others — Ajay Kumar (11), Mudduraj (13) and Sumalatha (10) — are being treated at SSIMS in Davangere where Mudduraj is said to be serious and put on ventilator support. Two others in the family, Chittappa’s wife Shanthamma, and Sadashiva, luckily survived as they had not consumed the food owing to ill health. Chithappa and his family used to work as daily wage labourers.
The family had supper as usual at 8.30 pm, but soon after, they started complaining of vomitting and stomach pain. All the seven were first taken in an ambulance to Guylalu PHC after which they were shifted to Hiriyur taluk hospital around 9 pm. However, due to non-availability of ventilators at the taluk hospital, all the patients were shifted to Chitradurga district hospital around 12 am where Chithappa succumbed. Sensing the severity of the issue, the patients were again shifted to Chigateri Hospital in Davagere, where Shashidhar and Bhagyamma died.
The remaining four were shifted to SSIMS Hospital for further treatment, where Hemalatha, the wife of Shashidhar, died. According to doctors at SSIMS, the condition of Mudduraj is serious while the other two children are stable.
Speaking to TNIE, Superintendent of Police Dr Arun M said preliminary investigation had revealed that sub-standard jowar flour was used to make the jowar balls which may have led to the deaths. The present of toxins or any other substances in the flour can be confirmed only after getting the FSL report, he said. The bodies of all the dead were handed over to relatives after the autopsy, he added.