- Nilkesh Dhurvey, father of two-year-old Nihal, who died on Oct 1 in MP’s Betul district, rummaged through a huge pile of garbage, looking for a prescription of medicines for Nihal.
- Kailash Yadav, also from Betul, travelled nearly 100 km to Parasia in neighbouring Chhindwara district on Monday, clutching his dead son, four-year-old Kabir’s photo in hand, to meet CM Mohan Yadav. Kabir died on Sept 9.
BHOPAL: Torn by pangs of losing their sons, Nilkesh and Kailash were determined to make a point – that Coldrif, the cough syrup which supposedly led to deaths of 17 children in MP’s Chhindwara district over more than a month could have been the cause for the deaths of their sons too as they were prescribed the same syrup, something Betul district administration officials are not ready to accept. They were even treated by the same doctor, Dr Praveen Soni, who was arrested on Sunday and charged with “negligence causing death.”Kabir and Nihal’s names do not figure in the list of 17 deaths linked to the toxic medicine so far.Nihal’s death, on Oct 1 in Jamunbicchiya village of Betul’s Amla block, had left his family devastated. He first fell ill on Sept 16, and was taken to Parasia block in neighbouring Chhindwara on Sept 18 where he was treated by Dr Soni who prescribed Coldrif. Soon, his condition deteriorated and he was rushed to AIIMS-Bhopal, where he died. “We live in a small house. The prescription got misplaced and thrown away with garbage,” said Nilkesh, a labourer.
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“We searched in a pile of garbage for hours and finally found it. We then handed it over to state health officials on Oct 6. Nihal was my only child. I don’t want any compensation. I only want those guilty to be punished so that no other parent suffers like us,” said Nilkesh, adding that officials told him his family would be considered for compensation if the case is verified to be linked to the same batch of syrup.Kailash Yadav’s son Kabir fell ill on Aug 24 and died on Sept 9, after days of shuttling between hospitals in Parasia, Nagpur and finally Bhopal.Kailash rushed 100 km to Parasia in Chhindwara on Monday where CM Mohan Yadav had reached to meet the bereaved families. “I was asked to go to the tehsil office. There I found that my son’s name was still not added to the list of those who died supposedly due to consumption of Coldrif or any other spurious cough syrup. I somehow managed to reach up to the CM, who asked me to meet the collector. As Tuesday was a holiday, I’ll meet him on Wednesday,” Kailash told TOI.However, the two grieving fathers said the fight is no longer just about what killed their sons — “it’s about ensuring their deaths aren’t erased from the tragedy’s record.”
