POISONED 'CHOCOLATES' KILL TWO KIDS

Kids who ate rat poison thinking them to be chocolates .... die

The unfortunate deaths of 2 children who tasted poison kept as a bait for rats during the absence of the parents was reported from Kamburupitiya area. The 2 children were aged 6 and 3 years. These deaths occurred as a result of the neglect of the parents to remove the rat poison kept on the roof in the night and which had fallen down from the roof after which the 2 children had picked them up. It was reported that on this occasion the father of the children had gone to the Pola while the mother had gone to the well to wash clothes and the elder sister of the children too had been away from home. When the mother returned home she found the 2 children unconscious. This is what she had to say:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      "It is my 2 children who had died. My husband works as a driver. On the day of the incident my husband had gone to the Irida Pola at Kamburupitiya around 11.30 in the morning. On that day the 2 children were at home. I told them to study. They did some studying and went out of the house and started playing with coconut shells. Then I washed them and told them to stay inside the house. So saying I went to the well to wash some clothes. When I washed the clothes and returned home I saw the 2 children each lying on separate beds, apparently sleeping. Though I called them, they didn't answer. I then yelled and later took them to Aandapaana Hospital in a three-wheeler .... but by then both of them had died".

      It was revealed in the investigations that the deaths had occurred because of poisoning. The mother of the 2 children said that the deaths may have occurred because of eating cubes of rat poison by mistake which were meant to be used to kill rats. She further said that on the previous day this rat poison was kept at various points on the roof and that she had forgotten to check in the morning where and where the poisonous bait had fallen. The children had picked this rat poison. The elder brother may have given them to the younger brother.

      The two deceased children were Eldeniyage Anuhas (03) and Eldeniyage Oshada (06) who was studying at Ransegoda Aadarsha Vidyalaya.

     It was said that on a previous occasion too these 2 children has had a close call with death, having fallen into a well. But this time it was not possible to save their lives.