Andhra Shocker: 5-Year-Old Drinks Pesticide-Laced Soft Drink Amid Parents’ Fight; Dies

A five-year-old girl accidentally consumed a soft drink allegedly laced with pesticide during a domestic dispute between her parents in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district. Rithika Sri died after unknowingly drinking the contaminated beverage at Buttaigudem mandal, police said.

The child’s mother Kumari had mixed pesticide into the soft drink during a heated argument with her husband Nagendra Babu to frighten him with a threat of suicide during the quarrel, police said.

Unaware, little Rithika Sri later picked up the bottle and drank from it. Soon after, her health deteriorated rapidly. She was rushed to a hospital for treatment but died.

Police said Kumari and Babu, residents of Antarvedigudem village, had married after several years of courtship. However, marital differences reportedly surfaced over time, leading to frequent quarrels between the couple.

Police revealed that Kumari, who works as a daily wage labourer in tobacco fields, allegedly brought pesticide home from work and poured it into a soft drink bottle. Her plan, police said, was to threaten Babu by pretending to drink it during the argument.

However, she later forgot about the bottle.

On Thursday, Rithika Sri unknowingly consumed the poisoned drink, leading to her death.