Four die after eating watermelon in Mumbai

Four members of a family in Mumbai’s Pydhonie area died on April 26 after falling sick overnight, and police are investigating whether contaminated food or fruit caused it. (indianexpress.com) Police identified the dead as Abdullah Dokadia, 40, his wife Nasreen, 35, and their daughters Aisha, 16, and Zainab, 13. The family lived in Mughal Building at Ghati Galli in South Mumbai. (thehindu.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Investigators said the family hosted five relatives for dinner at about 10:30 p.m. on April 25 and served biryani. After the guests left, the four family members ate watermelon around 1 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. (ndtv.com) (indianexpress.com) By about 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. on April 26, all four had vomiting and loose motions, according to police accounts. They were first seen by a family doctor and then taken to Sir J. J. Hospital. (ndtv.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Zainab died at about 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, and Abdullah died last at about 10:30 p.m., according to police details reported by local media. The other two deaths occurred in the same span of roughly 12 hours. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (ndtv.com) Police have registered an accidental death report at J. J. Marg police station rather than a criminal case. Officers seized food items and a half-eaten piece of watermelon and sent them for forensic testing. (thehindu.com) (ndtv.com) Post-mortems have been completed, but doctors reserved the final opinion pending histopathology and laboratory reports. Police have not publicly said whether the suspected source was the biryani, the watermelon, or another toxin. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (thehindu.com) One detail shaped the early inquiry: the relatives who joined the 10:30 p.m. dinner went home and did not eat the watermelon later in the night. Police said those relatives did not report the same symptoms. (indianexpress.com) (ndtv.com) Relatives told Indian Express they were waiting for forensic results before drawing conclusions, even as the watermelon became the focus of public speculation. The case now turns on lab reports that could show whether contamination, adulteration, or another cause killed the family. (indianexpress.com) (ndtv.com)