Schoolboy dies .... a 'Koththuwa' has turned poison!

Schoolboy dies .... a 'Koththuwa' has turned poison!

An 18 year old schoolboy who had consumed a 'Koththu' rotti in the night bought from a hotel had passed away on 17th Friday, it is reported

from Uragasmanghandiya.

The deceased is a student by the name of Dehemi Ayeshan Pathiraja, a son of a sergeant of Uragasmanghandiya Police. The elder brother of this schoolboy had bought a 'Koththu' rotty from the city and the student having eaten it in the night had engaged in his studies as usual and retired to bed and a few hours later the student had died while in his sleep. This student had been sleeping alone in a room in the house after partaking of the meal but since he had failed to get up the following morning his mother had enquired about him and on noticing that his body had become stiff and cold had yelled out. At that moment the neighbours had come to her assistance and taken the boy to Uragasmanghandiya Hospital; but what the doctors had said was that even by then he had passed away.

It was revealed at the medical examination that the cause of death was that the yeast and flavouring agents in the 'koththu' had been excessive in quantity and the juice of that food had got accumulated in the boy's lungs. It was further mentioned that the gastric juice of that night meal had found its way into the lungs and has resulted in this infectious condition causing death.

This student in fact was a most skillful Volleyball player and equally so in athletic events in the school Karandeniya Madhya Maha Vidyalaya and he was to sit for his Advanced Level Examination next year in the Commerce stream, it was reported. What this student's mother D.G. Sriya (43) and father, police sergeant Nihal Pathiraja (43) said was that it is Ayeshan who happened to be the second child from a family of three boys who faced this fate.

Though 'Koththu' rotty is a popular item of food for Sri Lankans, because of the present demand for it, it is being made available without any standard or criterion as such and Health Authorities have been cautioned to plan out a proper methodology for it.