In a bizarre incident, three brothers in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh died after consuming five litres of sanitisers in absence of alcohol. Reports suggest that the three men were addicted to alcohol and following the lockdown they couldn’t have their hands on liquor, hence tried to consume bottles of sanitisers to satiate their thirst. The unfortunate incident was reported on Tuesday after their bodies were recovered.
The deceased identified as Parvat Ahirwar,(55), Ram Prasad,(50) and Bhura Ahirwar were married but stayed away from their families, reports Times of India. While Prasad was a painter and a resident of Ravidas Colony Jehangirbad, the other two were labourers who would often sleep on the footpaths of MP Nagar.
Investigation officer SI RK Mishra at MP Nagar Police station narrated the incident to TOI. He said that the trio bought the sanitiser bottle on Sunday and consumed a lot of it. After that while Prasad went back home for the night, the other two slept on the footpath. Despite feeling uneasy, they again consumed the sanitiser on Monday. Late that night, the Prasad was found unconscious in his room while on Tuesday the bodies of the two were recovered from the street. Along with the bodies, two litres of the sanitiser was found from the spot and the rest was assumed to have been consumed by the deceased.
The trio was rushed to the JP Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival. A probe has been registered for further investigation.
This isn’t the first such case to have been reported. During the lockdown, multiple deaths were reported of people dying after consuming alcohol.
In one such similar incident, at least ten alcohol addicts, including three beggars, died after allegedly consuming sanitiser as an alternative to liquor in a village under COVID-19 lockdown in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh last year. The incident happened in Kurichedu town. As the liquor shops in town and surrounding villages were closed for days due to lockdown, they consumed sanitiser used for hand hygiene.