Beedi stick found in hospital canteen's fried rice

Parents of a child being treated at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital have lodged a police complaint alleging that a fried rice parcel they had bought for the child from the hospital's canteen contained a 'beedi' stick. 

The parents claim that the 11-year-old child had eaten several mouthfuls of the fried rice when he noticed the beedi, whereupon he had become violently sick and vomited the food. 

The child's father had then taken the parcel to the canteen and shown it to the canteen owner, who rejected the accusation that the beedi was inside the parcel when it was sold. 

However, the canteen owner and several other parties had subsequently phoned the father and urged him not to publicise the issue, hinting that they would compensate him if he chose not to do so, the parents allege.

However, the parents have gone ahead and lodged a complaint with the hospital police, who had informed the Municipal Public Health Inspector's (PHI) Office. The PHI office has accordingly launched a probe into the incident. 

A report on the results of this probe is due to be presented to the Kurunegala Magistrate's Court October 27. 

Text and Pix by Pushpa Weerasekara  

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