Kasaragod : In a country where toxicology tests are rarest of rare happenings even for patients rushed in with sudden onset of severe conditions, the ongoing pandemic just helped stop a killer in his tracks at Kasaragod's Ballal.
16-year-old Annmaria and her older brother Alwyn relished the homemade ice-cream - a desert, they prepared together late last month. However Annmaria soon fell sick to her stomach and began to have bouts of vomiting and stomach cramps after consuming the dish.
She was admitted to nearby Cherupuzha hospital where she died on the 6th of August around 6 pm. While her death was initially ruled as a case of jaundice, there arose suspicions of a likely Covid-19 infection. Therefore, serum samples from the deceased girl, her father Benny and mother Bessi were sent for tests. Meanwhile, Bennny and Bessi returned to the hospital, this time struck by severe conditions themselves. By then, the results for test sent earlier arrived and showed presence of poison in blood. Annmaria’s death was eventually recorded as poisoning in the postmortem report after which, police arrested Alwyn charging him with murder.
When interrogated, Alwyn confessed to the crimes which, by his own admission, was motivated by greed to have all family resources to his sole disposal and have no one to come in the way of a carefree life he planned. His father Benny continues to remain in the hospital, while Bessi has recovered fairly well.
