Primary investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of two girls while their parents are in hospital under treatment, has almost ruled out the possibility of the dosa batter they consumed, having led to this as the younger child who was two and a half months old was too young to consume solid food. This has deepened the mystery surrounding their deaths.
On Wednesday morning, a prayer meeting was held at the building complex in Chandkheda in memory of two-and-a-half-month old Raha and her elder sibling, 3-year-old Mishri, both of whom died in two days under mysterious circumstances.
While Raha died on April 4, Mishri died on April 5, and their parents, Vimal and Bhavna Prajapati, are currently admitted to KD Hospital. They had told the police that they suspect their children had died “by food poisoning” after consuming dosas made from readymade batter purchased from a dairy on IOCL road in Chandkheda, less than 500 metres from their home.
Dosa batter angle
The police after conducting a preliminary probe almost ruled out the possibility, asking how a 2.5-month old infant will be given dosa.
Raha’s body had been exhumed by the Chandkheda police on April 7 and sent for a panel postmortem as she was buried on April 4 by the family, without informing the authorities. The family had approached the police only after their second child, Mishri, died on April 5.
On Wednesday (April 8) evening, at Maruti Plaza Residency, the society which houses the Prajapati family, at least two teams of plainclothes cops, one from Chandkheda police station and the other from the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), kept a watch, spoke to neighbours and collected details.
The postmortem reports of both the children, toxicology reports of their parents and the FSL reports of food samples collected from the family’s home and the dairy are yet to be received.
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On Wednesday evening, Crime Branch officers checked CCTV footage in which Vimal Prajapati was seen purchasing the dosa batter and Bhavna coming to return the batch, claiming that it was “spoiled”.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the owner of the dairy, whose name is being withheld, said that they make 90 kg of dosa batter per day in two batches and that on April 1, when Vimal Prajapati had purchased the product, several other customers had also bought it. But none of them complained about the quality of the product. Inspector J K Makwana of Chandkheda police station said that the police had spoken to several customers, but no others had come forward with any complaints about the dosa batter.
“None of it is adding up,” said a senior police official investigating the case, adding that after three days of probe, it is most likely that the two children had been poisoned in some other way.
Other angles
Police sources said that they had almost ruled out the story of the dosa batter being the culprit.
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“We also investigated the angle of mass suicide but found no cause, either financial burden or familial rift, that could be the case of such a step,” said the officer. Notably, Vimal Prajapati and his father are both insurance agents. Meanwhile, Bhavna is a housewife who has studied Bachelors of Arts. Bhavna’s father owns a pharmacy in the Maninagar area.
The police have, however, not ruled out deliberate poisoning stemming from a bias against the girl child, said a senior officer. However, investigation into this angle is still in the early stages.
The investigation began after Vimal Prajapati informed the police about the death of his second child on April 5. An Accidental Death (AD) report was filed at Chandkheda police station. On April 7, the Crime Branch also joined the case.
Inspector Makwana had earlier, on April 6, said, “Prajapati told the police that on April 1, he had purchased dosa batter from the Dairy on IOCL road in Chandkheda. The family made dosas from this batter and consumed them on April 1 and 2. They had all become sick but had become better after initial treatment, so had not sought further medical advice. However, their condition again worsened and their 2.5 month old daughter died on April 4. They performed the child’s last rites without informing authorities. Then, the next day, their 3-year-old daughter Mishri, fell unconscious, and was admitted to KD Hospital, where she subsequently died on April 5. Prajapati then informed the police about her death.”
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