Four Family Members Die After Eating Watermelon in Mumbai; Doctors Puzzled

A Saturday night feast turned tragic when four members of a family died within hours of eating a watermelon in Mumbai's Bhendi Bazaar area. The deceased have been identified as Abdulla Dodakia (44), who owned a mobile phone accessories shop in Andheri, his wife Nasreen (35), and their daughters Ayesha (16) and Zainab (12).

While five other relatives had shared biryani-pulao with them at 10.30pm on Saturday and reported no symptoms, the fruit was consumed only by the four around 1am Sunday, said police. The spate of deaths began around 10.30am with Zainab, then Nasreen three hours later, Ayesha around 5.15pm and Abdulla about 10.15pm.

Doctors at JJ Hospital, where three of the victims received treatment, are just as puzzled. They said it is "very unlikely" that a stale watermelon could cause four deaths at such close intervals and that all medical efforts would fail to save them. The three had symptoms typical of food poisoning and their kidneys were severely impacted.

"It is very unlikely a stale watermelon can be this fatal. There could be some additives or something else altogether. At this point, we are not ruling out any possibility," said Dr Sanjay Surase, medical superintendent at JJ Hospital.

JJ Marg police have registered four cases of accidental deaths, with investigation ongoing. "The statements of Abdullah and Ayesha were recorded. They said they experienced vomiting and diarrhoea after eating the watermelon. No foul play is suspected as of now. Postmortem and forensic reports are awaited," said a police officer. Samples of the watermelon have been sent for testing.

The family lived on the second floor of Mughal Building in Ghati Gali. Chaos erupted on their floor between 9.30am to 10am Sunday, prompting neighbours to call in fourth-floor homeopath Zaid Qureshi, who said Zainab had froth in her mouth and her pulse could not be detected, and the other three family members were semi-conscious.

One after the other, neighbours took the family members to hospital. They were taken to Saboo Siddique Hospital where Zainab was declared dead. Abdulla and Nasreen were transferred to JJ Hospital, followed by Ayesha. Nasreen died two hours after admission. Ayesha was shifted to ICU followed by her father. They died about five hours apart.

Both sisters were waiting for their exam results. Ayesha was expected to clear Class X with flying colours, and Zainab was all set to join Class IX, police said.