The Civil Lines police have registered a case of the deaths of five siblings and their aunt due to alleged food poisoning, including the charges of ‘unintentional murder’ and ‘adulteration in food’ in the FIR.
The family has not accused anyone of their involvement in the deaths of the five siblings and their aunt but they have raised suspicions that the incident might have occurred due to the consumption of poisonous Biryani or fumigation in the guesthouse’s room.
The FIR No 23/19 was registered on behalf of an uncle of the deceased children at the Civil Line police station under sections 273, 322 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The complainant, Dar Marjan, in his recorded statement in the FIR said the fumigation in the guesthouse’ room or poisonous Biryani led to the deaths.
“Both the family and police suspect that the incident occurred either due to fumigation or toxic Biryani,” Civil Lines SHO Sajjad Ahmed said. “The complainant did not accuse anyone but he raised suspicions in his statement before the investigators that the siblings and their aunt might have died due to consuming poisonous Biryani or fumigation in the room.”
Police investigators have also sent 29 samples to the Punjab Forensics Laboratory in Lahore for chemical analysis to find out whether they were toxic. “The police investigators are now looking for the reports as the investigations are relying on the forensic reports,” SHO Ahmed said, adding that the room of the guesthouse had also been sealed.
The officer said action against the responsible persons would be taken after laboratory reports were received. He added that the police had already recorded statements of around three-dozen people, including employees of the guesthouse and Naubahar, a restaurant whose food the family consumed, while they were still looking for the owners to record their statements.
The five siblings, 18-month-old Abdul Ali, four-year-old Aziz Faisal, six-year-old Aliya, seven-year-old Tauheed and nine-year-old Salwa, died on Friday while their aunt, Bina Badaruddin, died on Saturday during treatment at Aga Khan University Hospital. They had bought Biryani from Naubahar hotel in the Saddar area, which they ate at the guesthouse, Qasr-e-Naz.
The children had reached Karachi on Thursday night along with their aunt, father Faisal Zaman and mother who wanted some medical treatment in the city. They had travelled by road and stayed at the Qasr-e-Naz guesthouse after reaching the city. Earlier in the day, they had lunch at their friend’s house in Khuzdar. They also consumed potato chips and juices which they purchased near Hub Chowki on their way. Later they consumed the parcelled Biryani of Naubahar.
The victims fell sick during the early hours of Friday and were taken to a private hospital where doctors declared the five siblings dead on arrival while their aunt died the next day. The bodies were shifted to Balochistan for burial.
