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Tamil Nadu: 3 kids dead due to food poisoning at children’s home
Three children died and 11 are undergoing treatment at a hospital due to suspected food poisoning at a private children’s home in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district, police said on Thursday.
Three children died and 11 are undergoing treatment at a hospital due to suspected food poisoning at a private children’s home in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district, police said on Thursday.
Of the 11 hospitalised, three are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), they added.
Taking note of the “grave child rights violation”, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) asked the state chief secretary to hold a probe on an urgent basis and sought a response within 48 hours.
According to Tiruppur city commissioner S Prabhakaran, the children at Sri Vivekananda Selvalayam, a private home for orphans and poor children, fell sick on Wednesday afternoon after consuming rasam-rice that was reportedly prepared a day earlier.
“Three children only drank the rasam but threw the rice in the dustbin,” he said.
“From Wednesday afternoon, all of them had fever and were given medicines. One child who began vomiting on Wednesday night was taken to the hospital and brought back on Thursday morning,” he added.
Tirupur district collector S Vineeth said the children were initially admitted to a private hospital. “But after their condition worsened, they were brought to a government hospital and kept in a separate ward,” the collector said.
“Three children died during the course of treatment. Eleven children are undergoing treatment. Three of them are in the ICU,” the collector added.
Besides the police, the food safety department, child protection unit and revenue department are probing the incident. The state government has formed a committee led by social defence department director S Valarmathi to look into the matter, Vineeth said.
The samples of rasam, rice, pickles and water have been collected for examination. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and the results are awaited, he added.
A first information report (FIR) under section 174 (3) (any doubt regarding cause of death) of Code of Criminal Procedure was filed against the home authorities on the basis of a complaint by a village officer, Prabhakaran said.
The trustee of the home, Senthilvel, is currently in Kolkata and is on his way to Tiruppur, he added.
The NCPCR asked the chief secretary to probe the incident and sought a response within 48 hours.
In a letter to the chief secretary, the apex child rights body said authorities concerned should also be given directions for proper and specialised treatment of the children admitted in the hospital.
“The Commission thereby requests your good offices to investigate the matter on an urgent basis since there is a grave child rights violation and lapse on the part of the administration of the said orphanage,” it said.
