Medical report shows woman fell sick due to food at 5-star hotel: Delhi Police

A woman fell ill after eating food at a Delhi five-star hotel, prompting police investigation into possible food tampering or poisoning.

A medical report and preliminary investigations showed that a woman had fallen sick because of the food she ate at five-star hotel in central Delhi, a day after a first information report (FIR) was lodged in the case, police said on Tuesday.

Medical report shows woman fell sick due to food at 5-star hotel: Delhi Police

The Medical Legal Certificate (MLC), seen by HT, said that the woman fell sick after eating the hotel food which “could be poisonous”. Police also said that doctors suspect that the food the woman consumed might have been “tampered with”.

Still, it could not be immediately established if the incident was deliberate or accidental.

“We don’t know what was added to the food or if something was wrong. The woman is yet to give her final statement,” a senior police officer told HT. Police also said they will question the hotel staff including kitchen staff and staff who delivered the food to the woman’s room once the final report is received.

The woman is still undergoing treatment but is in stable condition.

The 33-year-old woman, a resident of Prasad Nagar, had been staying in a room on the 12th floor since January 20 and was booked till January 31.

According to the FIR, the woman called the police around 1:15 pm on Sunday alleging that the staff of the hotel had given her a food which contained “poison” and that she had fallen sick. Asking for help, she further claimed that the staff was “torturing” her and keeping her “confined” to her room.

When a patrolling officer reached the hotel, the room had to be opened with a master key. She said had been too sick to open the door and, according to the FIR, the officer found her lying in bed with the food on a table inside.

She told police that she had ordered lunch through room service on Saturday but her stomach began hurting after she ate a little. The pain continued through the night and she also vomited. The officer took her to Lady Hardinge Medical College Hospital for immediate medical assistance, said the FIR.

A crime team collected a total of 16 exhibits of “suspicious food and liquid” articles from the room on Sunday.

In the FIR, the police has said, “From the above GD general diary entry, MLC, and the current situation, it appears that the health of the above victim seems to have deteriorated after eating food from hotel which might contain some poisonous substance.”

The hotel and its manager did not respond to HT’s requests for comment.