KOCHI: As the preliminary postmortem findings suggest the ingestion of the coin had not resulted in the death of three-year-old Prithviraj in Aluva, only the chemical examination would help the authorities ascertain the exact cause of his death.
According to authorities at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, the tissue and cell samples of the child have been sent to the Regional Chemical Laboratory at Kakkanad for examination. The report of the examination comes normally after 10 to 14 days, said doctors.
The postmortem examination has revealed that the boy who died in Aluva had swallowed two coins.”Two coins were found in the abdomen of the child. However, the coins were found in the small intestine and not in lungs or other organs. At this juncture, as part of ascertaining the exact cause of the death, the boy’s samples have been sent for chemical analyses,” said a source.
“The chemical analyses are conducted to find out whether any toxic substance that could harm the child’s health or any overdose of drugs or any sedatives entered the body and caused the death,” said a doctor with Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, who requested anonymity.
According to him, they cannot rule out the possibility of the child being administered traditional remedies which might have compromised the health condition of the child who was active until 2am on Sunday. After the autopsy at the MCH, the body was handed over to the relatives on Monday. The body was later taken to the residence of a relative in Kollam.
“Only after receiving the report of the chemical examination, we could initiate any further action in the case. We are waiting for the report and a case of unnatural death has been registered for now,” said Sunil V R, Inspector, Binanipuram police station.
Prithviraj, the lone child of Raju and Nandini, accidentally swallowed a coin and died on Sunday. The child’s parents have alleged their son was denied treatment by three government hospitals citing that they hailed from a Covid containment zone. The sequence of events leading to his death started at 11am on Saturday. Soon after the child swallowed a coin, he was rushed to District Hospital, Aluva.
The hospital authorities referred him to Ernakulam General Hospital. However, from there the boy was sent to Government MCH, Alappuzha, to consult a paediatric surgeon.