Administration wakes up a week after incident

Panityanki (Morang), Dec 2: The local administration in the district has shown a delayed interest in an incident which took place when around a hundred people of a single village fell ill after consuming poisonous food at a wedding reception. 

More than 80 people were taken ill after attending a wedding reception on 27 November at the house of one Bishnu Hari Phuyal at Sisbani Badhara-4 in Morang. The local administration has started a probe into the matter to determine the actual cause of the poisonous food a week after the incident.

A joint monitoring team reached the incident site on Monday for an investigation following the directive from the District Administration Office Morang.

The team comprising the representatives from the Department of Food Investigation, the Department of Commerce, the District Administration Office, the District Health Office and consumer rights activists were mobilized for an on-site inspection, said Prem Prasad Luintel, Morang's Assistant District Official.  

Luintel added that the sample of the food would be collected and investigated in a laboratory to determine the actual cause of poisoning.

He said the government would take punitive measures if anyone is found to have mixed poison into the food as suspected by the villagers.

In the incident, the groom and the accompanying guests who reached the bride's home fell ill after consuming the purported poisonous food.

At least 80 persons were admitted to Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital in Biratnagar after they fell ill. Many have already returned home while two dozen are still receiving treatment. RSS