5-Year-Old Girl Dead After Drinking Pesticide While Mistaking It For Soft Drink

A 5-year-old girl has been reported dead after accidentally ingesting pesticide, following mistaking it for a soft drink at the Bheempur village of Asifabad Mandal, Telangana, India on Monday, Sept. 19.

The deceased girl, identified only as G Sanvika, was at her paternal uncle’s residence on Sunday, Sept. 18, when the day took a tragic turn. While the girl was playing on the property, her father’s older brother returned from the agricultural field after spraying pesticide and kept the remaining chemical substance in a soft drink bottle.

Later that day, after seeing the soft drink bottle, an unsupervised Sanvika mistook the contents of the container for a drink and then consumed the pesticide, the Times Of India reported.

Sanvika immediately began vomiting. Her parents, Rajesh and Lavanya, subsequently found the girl frothing and writhing near their home and immediately rushed her to the Asifabad Government Hospital for treatment. As her condition deteriorated, she was referred to a hospital in Mancherial. However, she was declared dead at the health facility later that afternoon, the New Indian Express reported.

Sanvika’s parents had recently bought new clothes for her to celebrate her birthday on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Sanvika was reportedly dressed in her new birthday clothes at her funeral before she was laid to rest.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a 5-year-old boy reportedly choked to death after he drank his grandfather's alcohol as he mistook it for fruit juice in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021.

The 5-year-old boy, identified as S. Ruthresh, reportedly consumed some amount of alcohol that was still left in his grandfather P. Chinnasamy's liquor bottle thinking that it was fruit juice. The boy reportedly immediately started choking. He was subsequently rushed to a private hospital for treatment but died shortly after despite receiving medical attention, Latin Times reported.

On the day of the incident, Chinnasamy was consuming liquor while his grandson was eating snacks that he had offered the child. Chinnasamy reportedly drank half of the alcohol bottle and kept the rest on the table and left the room.

Ruthresh mistook the liquor that his grandfather kept on the table for fruit juice, consumed it, and started choking severely. Upon hearing the toddler gasping for breath, Chinnasamy rushed to help him.

Chinnasamy, who was an Asthma patient, reportedly also later suffered cardiac arrest and fainted. He was rushed to the private hospital along with Ruthresh. However, Ruthresh died later in the night without responding to treatment.