A 15-year-old boy died while three other children fell ill after consuming watermelon in a village in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, marking the second such incident reported in the country within a month following the deaths of four members of a family in Mumbai’s Pydhonie area last month.
The incident took place in Ghurkot village, where the children had visited their maternal uncle’s house after attending a wedding.
The deceased was identified as Akhilesh Dhivar (15), a resident of Podi Dalha village. The other affected children were identified as Shri Dhivar (4) from Avarid village, Pintu Dhivar (12) from Khatola and Hitesh Dhivar (13) from Kotgarh.
Symptoms Show Hours After Eating Watermelon
“As per preliminary information, the children consumed cut watermelon kept at the house on Sunday evening. A few hours later, Akhilesh started vomiting, had diarrhoea and breathing difficulties. Similar symptoms were later noticed in the other three children as well,” district hospital civil surgeon Dr S Kujur said.
“As their condition deteriorated, family members rushed them to the district hospital in ambulances at different times on Monday. However, Akhilesh was declared brought dead on arrival. The three other children were admitted to the emergency ward here,” he added.
Contamination Suspected, Samples Sent For Testing
Dr Kujur said the watermelon had reportedly been cut in the morning and consumed several hours later, raising suspicion of contamination.
“Prima facie, the children may have suffered food poisoning due to consumption of contaminated watermelon. The body of the teenager has been sent for post-mortem and viscera samples have been preserved for forensic examination. Another watermelon kept at the house was sent to the food safety department for laboratory testing,” Kujur said.
Officials said the exact cause of death and illness would be known only after forensic and food safety reports are received.
Mumbai Watermelon Death Case Takes New Turn
The Chhattisgarh incident comes amid fresh developments in the deaths of four members of a family in Mumbai’s Pydhonie area, where rat poison is now suspected to have caused the fatalities.
According to reports, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) confirmed the presence of zinc phosphide in viscera samples, including liver, kidney, spleen, stomach contents, bile and abdominal fat, of the deceased — Abdulla Dokadia (44), his wife Nasrin (35), and their daughters Aayesha (16) and Zaineb (13).
Zinc phosphide is commonly used as a highly toxic rodenticide to control rats and mice.
Mumbai Family Fell Ill After Eating Watermelon
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted relatives at their home on the night of April 25.
At around 1am, after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia, his wife Nasreen and daughters Ayesha and Zaineb consumed pieces of watermelon.
In the early hours of April 26, all four reportedly suffered severe vomiting and diarrhoea. They were first taken to a local hospital and later shifted to the government-run JJ Hospital, where all four died during treatment.
