The post-mortem report of the 22-year-old Pala native who died following suspected food poisoning in October after consuming shawarma from a restaurant at Mavelipuram in Kakkanad has cited the reason for his death as septicaemia, a serious bloodstream infection.
The post-mortem was conducted at the Government Medical College Hospital, Ernakulam. The report has been handed over to the police. It said that a final confirmation on the reason for the youth’s death would come after the results of the chemical analysis of blood samples at the State Forensic Lab in Thiruvananthapuram were available.
Rahul D. Nair, who was an employee with a company in the Cochin Special Economic Zone, had developed “health issues” after consuming the dish and had been to several hospitals before being admitted at a private hospital in Kakkanad. He ate shawarma ordered from the restaurant through a food aggregator on October 18.
The Thrikkakara police had booked the restaurant owner under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 284 (dealing with any poisonous substance so as to endanger human life) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide). The health wing of the Thrikkakara municipality had shut down the restaurant after receiving a complaint on October 23.
According to Food Safety officials, the results of the chemical analysis remained crucial in confirming that the death occurred due to food poisoning. Though initial inferences suggested that food poisoning had caused the death, a final confirmation can be made only after identifying the organism that caused the death.
