Rat poison, not watermelon, caused death of 4 family members in Mumbai

Deputy commissioner of police Pravin Mumde said that as per the FSL report the rodenticide traces were found in the liver, kidneys and spleen of the deceased.

Ten days after a couple and their two teenage daughters fell violently ill after eating watermelon at their home in Pydhonie, and died with hours of one another, Mumbai police is treating the deaths as a case of possible homicide or a suicide pact.

The FSL report has finally given the investigation direction, after police struggled to explain how four seemingly healthy members of a family could suddenly take ill and die within hours of each other. (HT)

A report by the state-run Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) submitted on Thursday to the investigators said traces of zinc phosphide, a highly toxic rodenticide had been found in samples of the viscera taken from all four deceased members of the Dokadia family.

Traces of zinc phosphide were also found in the watermelon samples taken from the Dokadias’ home, a significant finding as all four family members had eaten the fruit after having dinner with their relatives. Within hours of that, Abdullah Dokadia, 40, who ran a mobile phone business in Andheri, his wife Nasreen, 35, daughters Ayesha, 16, and Zainab, 13, had reported nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath. They were taken to the hospital but died one after the other on the intervening night of April 25 and 26. Abdullah Dokadia was the last to die and had recorded the events of the evening with the JJ Marg police that had been summoned to the hospital to register a medico-legal case.

Deputy commissioner of police Pravin Mumde said that as per the FSL report, the rodenticide traces were found in the liver, kidneys and spleen of the deceased, as well as in the stomach contents, bile and abdominal fat samples taken from the bodies.

Mumde said samples of the watermelon eaten by the deceased had also tested positive for zinc phosphide, whereas samples of all other food items eaten at dinner had tested negative for the rodenticide. “The report will be studied in depth and a further investigation will be conducted after consulting with forensic doctors,” he said.

Investigation gets a direction

The FSL report has finally given the investigation direction, after police struggled to explain how four seemingly healthy members of a family could suddenly take ill and die within hours of each other. The Dokadias had dined with their extended family at their home that night but none of their relatives reported any discomfort after the meal.

“It is a case of poisoning but we are not sure whether it was a suicide pact or whether someone deliberately planted the poison. That will be determined by further inquiries,” said an investigating officer with the JJ Marg police.

The police took samples of 11 food items from their home, including the chicken biryani that everybody ate at dinner that evening.

They also took samples of the watermelon that only the four Dokadias had eaten, drinking water and other edibles from their kitchen.

Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration had submitted that there was no adulteration in the other food items collected from the Dokadias’s kitchen.

Mehmood Qureshi, 59 one of their neighbours told HT, that their builder, which was in a dilapidated condition, has long been plagued by unhygienic conditions and was infested with rodents that came in from the open sewer that ran alongside the building.

“We have checked the mobile phones of the family members for indications of any suicidal ideation but found nothing suspicious. The phones were also sent to FSL for further analysis, to look for deleted messages. No wrapper of any rat poison has been found in their home,” said the police officer, leading to investigators looking at a possible case of homicide.