BHOPAL: Two persons of a family — a minor boy and his sister-in-law, died after they consumed hand sanitiser as a substitute for liquor on Tuesday night. The incident occurred in the Kargil slum area, under Govindpura police station. The victims were habitual drunkards and, as they had fallen short of liquor, they decided to drink the sanitiser stored in their home.
The deceased, Dharmendra Adivasi, 17, had found the bottle when he went to pick garbage around the area. He brought the bottle home and polished it off with his 22-year-old sister-in-law, Aruna. They lived with their family members — a total of 12 people — in the slum area. All the members of the family are habitual drunkards and, when Dharmendra brought the bottle of hand sanitiser home in the evening, they drank it.
The other family members had warned them against it, but they did not heed the warnings. In the night, when they complained of uneasiness, the family members did not take it seriously as they were all drunk by the time. In morning, when both the victims had begun to vomit, they were taken to JP Hospital. However, Dharmendra died during treatment around 09.50 am. Aruna was declared dead around 11.50 am, the police said.
The Govindpura police have registered a case in connection with the incident and an investigation has begun. Investigating officer Ramsajeevan Verma, ASI, said the deceased were ragpickers. They would drink sanitisers even during the lockdown, said one of their family members in their statement. Verma said the other family members were being questioned in connection with the incident.
