9th death in Badhaal since Dec 7 due to a mysterious disease
Pall of gloom descended on Badhaal, terror gripped the entire area
Two children still unconscious in ICU of SMGS Jammu: Father Mohd Aslam
Shyam Sood
Rajouri, Jan 12: A pall of gloom descended once again on Badhaal in Rajouri district when 10th death (8 minor children among 10) of 8-years-old girl namely Naveena Kousar d/o Mohd Aslam reported in SMGS Hospital in Jammu due to highly infectious pathogens.
Naveena Kousar and her 5 siblings-two brothers & 3 sisters-fell seriously ill due to fever, vomiting etc at their home in village Muku Gala (Badhaal).
Earlier, four children along with their father Mohd Aslam and mother Shakia Begam had taken ‘Sweet Rice’ in a ‘Khatm’ or ‘Fatiha’ function organised by their grand-father (Nana) in memory of his son Fazal Hussain and four grand-children. It is pertinent to mention here that on December 7 last year Fazal Hussain and his four children namely Robia Kousar (14 years), Farhana Kousar (9) Raftar (5) and Rukhsar (11) fell seriously ill due infectious pathogens and later all died in the hospitals in Rajouri & Jammu.
Since then, Nizam Din, father of Fazal Hussain, organises ‘Khatm’ on every Thursday in their memory at Thakri mal (pasture) about 4 kilometres from Badhaal. At about 1 am on
Friday, three children of Mohd Aslam– namely Zahoor Ahmed (14), Yasmeen Akhter (15), and Naveena Kousar (8), developed health complication and were brought to CHC Kandi and later referred to Associated Hospital GMC (AH GMC) Rajouri.
All the three, having symptoms of fever, sweating, vomiting, altered sensorium along with dehydration, were treated at AH GMC Rajouri and were referred to SMGS Hospital in Jammu for further management.
On Sunday (January 12) Naveena Kousar (8) died in SMGS hospital.
After the referral of three children, district administration/ health department swung into action and shifted another son Mohd Maroof (10) to AH GMC Rajouri after symptoms of fever with vomiting with episodic loss of consciousness and later referred to SMGS hospital in Jammu.
“I along with my wife & four children-Zahoor, Naveena, Maroof and Yasmeen- on Thursday had taken Sweet Rice for lunch at Thakri Mal at the house of my father-in-law. On Friday all the four children fell seriously sick and shifted to hospital in Jammu from GMC Rajouri. My daughter Naveena died in the hospital today (Sunday),” said Mohd Aslam, father of the children.
He added that I have two sons, namely Zahoor Ahmed and Mohd Maroof, and both are unconscious in the ICU.
Two other children of Mohd Aslam, namely Safina (6) , and Zabina (10) are safe and stable and brought to AH GMC Rajouri to keep under observation to avoid any complication.
“Prey for my children” said Mohd Aslam.
“Terror has once again gripped the entire area after the death of Naveena and serious condition of other two children due to mysterious disease. The administration should have not allowed any large gathering in the Badhaal area which has already been declared highly sensitive,” said a local social activist.
Earlier in the wake 8 deaths in two families in the month of December, on the directions of Directorate of Health Services Government of India New Delhi, a team of experts from different premier medical institutions, including a team from Indian Council of Medical Research along with Mobile Laboratory Vehicle, camped at Koteranka to investigate the cases and deaths in Badhaal.
To date no cause has been found behind these mysterious deaths and preliminary investigation (according to Principal, GMC Jammu) pointed towards viral infection.
On Sunday Deputy Commissioner, Abhishek Sharma accompanied by DIG Rajouri-Poonch Range, Tejinder Singh, and SSP, Gaurav Sikawar visited Badhaal to assess the ground situation.
