Mumbai police receive ‘final cause of death’ certificate in watermelon deaths case, hospital report confirms zinc phosphide poisoning

Mumbai: The city police, probing the death of four members of a Pydhonie family, said they received the ‘final cause of death’ certificate, which mentioned “poisoning due to zinc phosphide”.

Police received the report from the forensic department of the state-run JJ Hospital in Byculla that carried out the post-mortems.

On April 26, Abdullah Dokadia (40), wife Nasreen (35) and two daughters, Aayesha (16) and Zainab (13), died in hospital during the treatment. They had eaten biryani pulao and later watermelon; they woke up at 5am, with discomfort and vomiting.

Last week, the FSL report stated that zinc phosphide, which is used to kill rats, was found in the viscera of the deceased persons and in the watermelon. The FSL report helped the JJ forensic team conclude the cause of death and issue the certificate.

JJ Marg police are probing whether it was a case of homicidal, suicidal or accidental death.

Police are now waiting for the forensic report of a rat repellent spray which was found in the Dokadias’ residence and later sent for forensic examination.