Unable to get liquor, man drinks mixture of sanitizer and cough syrup, dies

A 29-year-old research student is said to have died in Hoysala Nagar of Dharwad district Karnataka after consuming a mixture of sanitizer and cough syrup as he was unable to get liquor.

The deceased, identified as Sudeep Kariyanna, is said to be a native of Honnavara, Uttara Kannada district but was studying at the zoology department of Karnatak University, Dharwad and staying in a rented accommodation in Hoysala Nagar.

A station house officer of Sub Urban Police station in Dharwad said that the incident was reported to them on Monday afternoon by the landlord of the house which Sudeep had rented after foul smell was emanating from it. An empty bottle of sanitizer as well as a bottle of cough syrup was found next to his body and the landlord in his complaint to the police said that the student had been complaining of lack of availability of liquor due to the lockdown.

Sudeep’s body has been shifted to the Dharwad district government hospital for post-mortem. “Prima facie it looks like a case where the deceased has consumed a mixture of sanitizer and cough syrup as a substitute for liquor. We have registered a case and are investigating,” said the SHO who did not want to be named as she is not authorized to speak to media.

It maybe recalled that about 10 days back in Gambayarpur village of the same district, two people died and 13 others fell ill after consuming sanitizer for its alleged ‘alcohol content.’

Cops and health officials have repeatedly appealed to people not to consumer sanitizers or syrups. Desperate tipplers have taken to consuming all kinds of substances and there have been numerous reports of break-ins and thefts at liquor stores across the state ever since lockdown was announced on March 24.