A government programme in which students are given de-worming tables went awry here on Saturday. Khusbhoo (11), a fifth standard student of the Marwawri Hindi Vidyalaya school died soon after she took the tablet. An enquiry has been ordered.
The autopsy suggested that the death was due to asphyxia. The girl was the eldest of four children of Beni Mandal and Mamata who migrated to the city from Bihar. The girl was normal when she left home in the morning. Her younger sister, Madhuri and brother Shankar are in fourth and third classes respectively in the same school.
The albendazole 400 mg tablet was given to about 140 students after the interval at 10 a.m. “It seems the girl bit the tablet and gulped it along with water. Due to difficulty in swallowing, she vomited,” the Hyderabad Medical and Health Officer, Ananth Reddy, said.
Throat pain
The student complained of pain in the throat to her teacher Rama Devi. Within minutes, she struggled for breath. The school staff rushed her to a nearby urban health centre. As her condition deteriorated, she was taken to the government hospital at Pan Bazar before being rushed to the Gandhi Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead.
Initially, the body was handed over to the parents who took it home. Advised by the neighbours, they later approached the Ramgopalpet police who registered a case of suspicious death under Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code and got the autopsy done at the Gandhi Hospital morgue.
The Medical and Health Department officials present during the post-mortem said no traces of the tablet were found in the girl’s body.
“Since she vomited soon after having food, the food particles entered her nose and got stuck in the trachea and choked her to death,” they observed.
However, the forensic experts are yet to finalise the cause of death and submit a report. The government announced Rs. 1.5 lakh compensation and a house to the victim’s family.
