New Delhi: A three-month-old girl and her four-year-old sister died, and their parents were hospitalised in Ahmedabad’s Chandkheda area due to suspected food poisoning linked to ready-made dosa batter. According to family members, the parents and their children had dosa that was made of batter purchased from a local shop last week.
Vimal Prajapati, an insurance agent, purchased dosa batter from Ghanshyam Dairy on April 1. His wife Bhavna prepared dosa using the batter. Vimal’s father, Gaurishankar, alleged that the couple and their elder daughter, Mishti, consumed dosa that evening and allegedly fell ill and also vomited the next morning. Their three-month-old daughter, Raha, also had her health deteriorate after being breastfed by her mother.
Gaurishankar claimed that Raha developed severe convulsions and died on Saturday, while Mishri succumbed on Sunday during treatment. The parents are under observation in the ICU.
Police probing other angles too
Meanwhile, police said that they are probing all angles, and are suspicious about the death of the 3-month-old baby as she could not have consumed solid as she was exclusively breastfed.
“Doctors are shocked at the death of the infant and said that the mother’s condition would have been more serious if the baby’s health deteriorated after breastfeeding. But the parents are not in a serious condition and only under observation,” a police officer was quoted as saying by TOI.
According to the police, the family did not report the infant’s death on April 4 and performed the last rites without informing authorities. The family lodged a complaint at Chandkheda police station after the elder daughter died on April 5.
Shop owner denies any wrongdoing
The daily owner said that the same batch of batter was sold to several other customers, but none of them faced any health issues. “More than 100-125 kg of batter is sold every day, but we haven’t received any such complaints from any customer. Even our family consumed it,” he told reporters on Monday.
No suspicious or toxic substance was recovered from the house, police said, adding that they have sent batter samples from both the dairy and the residence to the forensic team. Further probe is underway to ascertain the exact of the children’s death.