Kerala: Woman orders Kuzhimanthi biryani, dies later of food poisoning

Kasaragod (Kerala): Three persons, including the owner of the hotel which had provided 'Kuzhimanthi', were taken into custody here on Saturday after a 20-year-old woman died due to suspected food poisoning upon consuming the biryani dish, police said.

The three persons were taken into custody as part of preventive detention in order to protect them from angered protesters in the area, Kasaragod police said.

Meanwhile, Melparamba police said they were awaiting the post-mortem report of the woman in order to take further action.

"Three persons have been taken under preventive detention. The case is registered at Melparamba police station. They will take further action. During the day, there were multiple protests towards the restaurant and so we took them into custody," Kasaragod police told PTI.

Anju Sreeparvathy, the young woman from Perumbala near here, died on Saturday morning allegedly after eating the delicacy bought from a local hotel.

Police said she purchased the dish online from a restaurant named Romansia at Kasaragod on December 31 and has been undergoing treatment since then.

The girl was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, from where she was taken to another hospital at Mangaluru in neighbouring Karnataka, where she died.

Meanwhile, Kerala Health Minister Veena George ordered a probe into the incident.

"Directions have been issued to the Food Safety Commissioner to file a report with regard to the incident. The DMO is also looking into the incident and the treatment given to the girl," George told reporters at Pathanamthitta.

She said the license of the hotels which are accused of food poisoning, will be cancelled under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSAI).

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan attacked the government over the two deaths due to alleged food poisoning in the last six days.

"Every day one or the other serious health-related issues are being reported from the state. The state which was top in the food safety index during the UDF government has now gone down to the sixth place which shows the state government's failure in ensuring food safety," Satheesan said in a statement.

The Congress leader also alleged that the Food Safety Department was engaged in inspection only when issues like this come up.

Earlier this week, a nurse in Kottayam Medical College died allegedly after consuming food from an eatery in Kottayam.