Marriage, mayhem and murder Premium

A shocking tale of arsenic poisoning in Hyderabad reveals a deadly plot of revenge and grudge within a family.

On June 3 last year, 33-year-old Sasirekha, draped in a red-and-golden saree, entered her in-laws’ home at a gated community in Hafeezpet, a suburban locality of Miyapur in Hyderabad. The Rao family, excited for the wedding of their son M. Purnender, had gathered friends and relatives for a joyous celebration. The groom’s doctor-sister, M. Sirisha, had also flown down from the U.K. along with her daughter. Within a week, however, an unease spread through the household and the gleam of Sasirekha’s bridal attire was replaced by the gloom of a hospital gown.

It started innocuously – the family had fallen mildly sick after savouring home-made popu annam (tempered rice) on June 2, but no one thought much of it. Then, on June 7, after Sasirekha enjoyed her first meal with her new family, her techie husband Mr. Purnender, 39, and mother-in-law Uma Maheshwari, 60, were hit by severe vomiting and diarrhoea. By morning, Sasirekha herself woke up with similar symptoms, and her father-in-law Hanumantha Rao, 66, followed soon after. As their condition worsened, mysterious neurological symptoms emerged – partial paralysis and excruciating burning sensations.

Hospital trips yielded no answers, and Mr. Purnender, who returned to the U.S. to rejoin work on June 22, continued to experience alarming weight loss, shedding 10 kg in less than three weeks. It was only then that a shocking truth surfaced – the family had been victims of a deliberate arsenic poisoning.

Ms. Maheshwari, who had been in perfect health until June 3 with no history of co-morbidities, quickly grew pale and weak. Within a month, she succumbed to critical pulmonary edema and acute respiratory failure. But this was only the beginning of the family’s ordeal.

“My mother was hospitalised with paraplegia, delirium, and difficulty in breathing and weakness on June 26. Despite the expensive and extensive treatment for suspected Guillain Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, she passed away on July 5, leaving behind a mystery which had to be cracked to save the rest of the family,” shares Ms. Sirisha, 41, an oncologist.

At the funeral on July 7, the family suffered through the same cycle of vomiting and illness. This time, Ms. Sirisha sent a water sample to the Institute of Health Systems in Kukatpally, Hyderabad, but the results showed nothing unusual.

“Until my mother’s final prayers on July 15, we didn’t cook or eat at home, and everything seemed fine. But the moment we started eating home-cooked food again, things started worsening,” Ms. Sirisha recounts.