Two children die after eating brinjals

Father refuses to register FIR saying he will investigate the case himself.

MANSEHRA:

Two siblings died after consuming locally-prepared food on Saturday.

Khushal Khan, a resident of Muhallah Usmanabad village in Bedadi told the Shinkiari Police that his daughter Shumaila, six, and his son Kamran, three, asked their mother for some food in the afternoon, upon which she gave them brinjals that she had cooked in the morning. Soon after consuming the food, both started crying and complained of severe pain in their stomach. However, their mother took the situation lightly and ignored them.

He said his wife took the children to the Shinkiari Hospital when they started vomitting, but both of them passed away before the doctors could examine them. He ruled out the possibility of murder, saying he had no enmity with anyone, police said.

He suspects that the death was caused by a poisonous insect that had somehow gotten into the brinjals. He did not register an FIR either and said he would investigate the matter on his own and let the police know.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2011.