- By Surarika Das
- Tue, 12 May 2026 11:54 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Weeks after the death of a Mumbai family, a 15-year-old boy died after consuming watermelon in a village from Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district on Monday. The deceased was identified as Akhilesh Dhivar (15), a resident of Podi Dalha village.
Three other children also felt ill after consuming the fruit. The children treated at the hospital are identified as Shri Dhivar (4) from Avarid village, Pintu Dhivar (12) from Khatola, and Hitesh Dhivar (13) from Kotgarh.
The incident occurred in Ghurkot village; the four children visited their maternal uncle's house for a wedding. According to the initial investigation, the children consumed cut watermelon kept at the house on Sunday evening. After a couple of hours, the children started vomiting and had diarrhoea and breathing issues, the News18 report mentioned.
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The family members took the children to the hospital immediately. However, Akhilesh was declared dead on arrival. The other children were admitted to the emergency ward.
What Did The Doctor Say?
The doctor claimed that the minor may have died due to the contamination of the watermelon. Dr S Kujur claimed that the fruit was cut in the morning and was served hours later to the children. “Prima facie, the children may have suffered food poisoning due to consumption of contaminated watermelon. The body of the teenager has been sent for a post-mortem, and viscera samples have been preserved for forensic examination. Another watermelon kept at the house was sent to the food safety department for laboratory testing," News18 quoted Dr Kujur as saying.
The police said that the exact cause of the death will be known after the forensic and food safety reports are received.
The Mumbai Family Death
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia, his wife Nasreen, and daughters Ayesha and Zaineb ate pieces of a watermelon.
The family suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run JJ Hospital, where all four died during treatment.
Initially, the deaths were being linked to food poisoning for consuming watermelon. However, the latest reports revealed that the traces of rat poison were found in the victim's body.
According to forensic findings, traces of zinc phosphide—a commonly used rodenticide—were detected in all four deceased family members, as well as in samples of the watermelon, ruling out initial suspicions of simple food poisoning.