Telangana: Tribal Student Dies of Food Poisoning After Month-Long Battle

Hyderabad:C. Shailaja, a 16-year-old girl student from the Tribal Welfare Residential School at Wankidi mandal of Kumaram Bheem district, died of complications arising from food poisioning while undergoing treatment on Monday at the Nizam’s Institute of Medial Science (Nims), where she was admitted on November 5.

Sailaja was brought to Nims along with two other classmates. The other two recovered after treatment but Shailaja's condition had been serious right from the beginning.

Shailaja’s mother, weeping in front of media on Monday night, said that she had only one child. "Doctors kept her in the hospital for about a month but were not responding to our queries. They simply said that there was no gurantee to her life," she said.

Sailaja's body was handed over to the police by the Nims administration, and from there taken to the Gandhi Hospital for post-mortem. After the autopsy, parents were allowed to take the body of Shailaja to their home district for final rites.

Shailaja was one among the 63 students of the Wankidi school that fell sick after consuming food at the hostel on October 30. Fifteen others were admitted to local hospitals the next day.

The rest were discharged and three others, including Shailaja, were brought to Nims.

She was admitted to Nims with symptoms of dehydration. She later developed a kidney issue (increased serum creatinine secondary to dehydration) and a lung infection for which she was put on a ventilator the same day, on November 5. Subsequently, she was given special dialysis (continuous renal replacement therapy) till November 9, a statement from the hospital said.

She was brought off ventilator on November 8 as she showed signs of recovery from lung infection. She was put on an oral diet and was able to talk and move.

However, she had a respiratory arrest on November 11 for which she was put on a ventilator again, with dialysis on continuation. Her condition has been critical since then. She died on Monday.

A few ministers and politicians had met the three girls while they were in the hospital, including health minister Damodar Rajnarsimha on November 11.

The government had placed Wankidi school principal Srinivas under suspension for dereliction of duty. Subsequently, principal Srinivas and four others, including an auxiliary midwife nurse (ANM) and a cook, were transferred.

Following news of Shailaja's demise, former health minister T. Harish Rao criticised the Congress government.

"A tribute with tears to Shailaja who became a victim of negligence of the Revanth government. The government is responsible for the hellish experience you endured on the ventilator for 25 days. Chief Minister @revanth_anumula, you have left an irreparable wound in the hearts of those parents,” Harish Rao posted on his X handle.

“The little one, who should have been playing and learning lessons at school with other students, has tragically passed away due to food poisoning. The government’s negligence has turned into a curse for the tribal child. It is a crime to serve poor quality food in the Wankidi Gurukula, and it is another crime not to provide timely, proper treatment to students who fell ill,” he said.

“Government negligence at every step, and the officials' laziness, led to the student’s death. The government failed completely in giving assurance to the parents. Finally, the shameful act of secretly removing the dead body with the intention of hiding the girl's death is disgraceful,” Harish Rao said and demanded that the government take responsibility for the tribal student’s family and provide a compensation of `50 lakh.