20 girl students taken ill due to ‘food poisoning’

About 25 girl students of the Sri Seshachala College in Puttur, pursuing their B.Ed course, were taken ill on Thursday and were rushed to a private hospital. The students alleged that they were served stale food the previous night.

Owing to its bad smell, some students avoided the food and got their dinner from outside. Those who consumed the food on Wednesday night started complaining of acute stomach pain and giddiness from Wednesday midnight, and the condition of some of them turned alarming on Thursday morning.

Till afternoon, the sick girls were taken in batches to a private hospital. The staff on duty suspected food poisoning as the reason for their condition. Interestingly, none of the students who took food from outside the hostel showed symptoms of food poisoning.

The students undergoing treatment at the private hospital alleged that when some of them tried to contact their parents in the morning, the hostel management had threatened them of dire consequences, including exam failure or non-provision of hall tickets.

Meanwhile, the condition of all the students who were taken ill was declared safe by evening.