My world destroyed: Heartbroken father mourns death of 5 children

Srinagar: A heartbroken father Mohammad Aslam is experiencing unfathomable sorrow. In a week, he lost five children—three sons and two daughters—as well as his maternal uncle and aunt to an unexplained sickness in the isolated village of Budhal in the Rajouri border area of Jammu and Kashmir.

In a hospital in Jammu, his sole surviving daughter is critically ill and fighting for her life. Aslam lost his 60-year-old aunt Jatti Begum to an unexplained illness on Friday morning. Begum's passing brings the total number of people killed by an unexplained sickness to 16, including 12 children and 4 adults.

Since January 9 of this year, Aslam's family has had seven mysterious deaths. On Thursday, his maternal uncle Mohammad Yousuf, 63, passed away after an unexplained illness. Aslam is devastated by the deaths, TNIE reported.

“My world has been destroyed in a week. I have lost five children including three sons and two daughters. And now my only surviving daughter Yasmin Kounsar (15) is battling for life at SMGS hospital in Jammu,” Aslam said.

“We don’t know whether she will survive or not. We pray to the Almighty to save her life,” he said. Doctors have termed Yasmin’s condition as critical.

The fatalities began on December 7, 2024. Mohammad Fazal and his four children died from a strange illness on December 7 in Budhal village. They had become ill after eating a communal meal. Mohammad Rafiq's wife and three children died five days later (December 12) from an unexplained illness.

On January 9, Aslam's six children were unwell, and five of them died. His maternal uncle and aunt, who lived with him, died within the last two days. All three families are linked and live within 1.5 kilometres of one another. According to Aslam, roughly 30-40 people ate meals in Fazal's residence on December 7, and "why only three families were affected.”

“My three children had been at home and did not eat the food and despite that they were affected and fell victim. We don’t know what is happening. There should be proper medical and police investigation to unravel the truth,” said Aslam.

The strange illness has caused concern in the village, and residents are concerned about their health. Various agencies collected thousands of samples from the village.

“All samples have tested negative for any viral or bacteriological etiology. The tests were conducted on different samples in some of the most reputed labs of the country, ” an official spokesman said. He said clinical reports, lab investigations, and environmental samples indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease.

Aslam stated that if the government claims there is no communicable disease, it should research the reason for the deaths. “The investigation should have started initially after the first deaths instead of waiting for 45 days and 16 deaths,” he said, referring to a police investigation launched by the government.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah chaired a high-level meeting today to discuss the situation in the Budhal area.