It was Diwali and the Phulmali family from Pune simply wanted to put something special on the dinner table for their kids. But they had no idea they had just served death to three of their children
The Phulmali family lost their three sons
The Phulmali family lost their three sons
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Pune: It was Diwali and the Phulmali family simply wanted to put something special on the dinner table for their kids. But they had no idea that they had just served death to three of their children. As the kids — three boys and two girls — enjoyed a special dinner of chicken curry on Monday night, they discussed their plans to wear matching clothes the next day to celebrate Bhai Dooj. Instead, that very meal separated them forever.
The youngest three — Anil (8), Sairaj (6) and Dhanraj (4) – died of food poisoning yesterday, while the girls, Gauri (12) and Pooja (10), are still ill.
Bittersweet memories
The Phulmalis used to be a farming family once, but gave it up when they could no longer make a living out of it. Instead, they turned nomadic – travelling from village to village, begging for alms in return for blessings from their 'sacred' bull – a stand-in for Nandi, one of Lord Shiva's servants.
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Sindhu Phulmali cannot believe she lost all three of her sons to food poisoning after a meal to celebrate the Diwali festivities
During the Diwali celebrations, the family was in Nandkar village in Otur, around 45 km from Pune. It was a small village with about 150 residents, but the family had found a warm welcome there.
For the past week, the family had enjoyed the food and sweets that were distributed by social workers for the festival. But on Monday, the kids insisted on chicken curry.
"It was Diwali, so we planned to halt in this village as many people were giving us food and clothes. Still, my sons wanted to have chicken, so I bought the meat for dinner on Monday evening, along with the sweets that social workers had given us," recalled the kids' father, Balu (42).
Family devastated
Their mother Sindhu (35) still cannot believe what has happened. "Last night, all five children were playing and gearing up for Bhau Dooj. The girls were excited about getting gifts from their brothers and they had all planned to wear matching clothes and click a picture together," she said.
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"Within a couple of hours after dinner, all five started vomiting. At first, we tried to nurse them back to health, but on Tuesday morning, we decided to take them to the hospital. Anil and Sairaj passed away in hospital around 8.30 am. My youngest son died while he was being transferred to Sassoon General Hospital. I don't know how to react; how could god be so brutal?"
The family's only comfort is that their daughters, Gauri and Pooja, survived the ordeal and are currently recovering at a hospital in Ahmednagar. "I can't understand why god took away all three of my brothers. Now who will we celebrate Bhai Dooj with us?" said a distressed Gauri.
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