Coimbatore: Beware of discarded cola cans for it may have well been used for other purposes. The old Tamil adage, ‘Vilayattu Vinaiaagividum (a playful act can turn fatal)’, unwittingly came true for a three-year-old kid who died consuming kerosene, mistaking it for a sweet drink, in Coimbatore on Saturday.
The tragedy unfolded after Dharmaraj, 45, a daily wager residing in TVS nagar, had left his child Hariharan under the care of his elder brother and the latter’s wife before he left for work on Friday, police said.
The kid on seeing a soft-drink bottle in a garbage bin near his house picked it up and drank what little was left in it without knowing it was kerosene. Apparently, somebody had used the bottle for keeping kerosene and had flung it later.
Even as the boy on entering the house had fainted shortly later, unaware of what he had actually drunk, Dharmaraj and his wife on returning home were shocked to find their son lying unconscious on the floor.
The parents took their child to the government hospital where doctors on examining Hariharan said he had taken kerosene. Hariharan was at once admitted to the ICU, but the poor boy, unresponsive to treatment, died on Saturday. The Thudiyalur police are investigating.
