Kerala: Man dies of suspected poisoning, friend held

The man, hospitalised on July 30, died on July 31 night. A paraquat herbicide bottle was found at his home; his female friend is a suspect, police said.

A 38-year-old man died at Kothamangalam here due to suspected poisoning by his female friend, police said on Friday. The man was admitted to a hospital on July 30 morning and died on July 31 night while undergoing treatment.

Police said initially a case of attempted murder under the BNS was registered. With his death, it will have to be changed to a case of murder." (Pic used for representation) (HT_PRINT)

A police officer said a bottle of a herbicide -- paraquat -- was found at the man's home. "His female friend is a suspect in the case. Initially a case of attempted murder under the BNS was registered. With his death, it will have to be changed to a case of murder," the officer said.

The 30-year-old woman is currently in police custody. Further steps will be taken after the postmortem of the body, the officer said.

Three years ago, in a similar incident, a young woman had killed her male friend by giving him an ayurvedic tonic laced with paraquat at her home in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari.

The male friend died 11 days later from multiple-organ failure at a medical college in Thiruvananthapuram. In January this year, a sessions court in Neyyattinkara sentenced the 24-year-old woman -- Greeshma -- to death for the murder of Sharon Raj.