Young Kerala Woman Loses Life After Consuming Arali Flower

An unfortunate incident occurred in the state of Kerala, involving a girl who lost her life after chewing a flower. This has caused fear and concern in the state as the death of the girl has left many thinking of what dangers may be lurking in their gardens.

A 24-year-old young woman named Surya Surendran passed away after unintentionally chewing the Oleander flower. It is locally known as the Arali flower in the Malayalam language.

As per the reports, the girl, a nurse by profession, was travelling to the UK on Thursday from the Nedumbassery airport, to start her new job on Sunday. She collapsed at the airport and was immediately admitted to a hospital where the doctors could not save her life. She died on Monday; the cause of her death was declared to be a heart attack.

While she was being treated, she told the doctors that she had eaten an Arali flower and its leaf accidentally from the neighbourhood as she was talking on the phone. Reports stated further that on her way to the airport, Surya continuously vomited.

The Haripad station house officer K Abhilashkumar said that a postmortem was done at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital, where they determined the reason behind her sudden death. The officer stated, “In the postmortem report, it was found that the cause of death was the consumption of Arali flower and leaf.” He added that while talking on the phone to her family, she unintentionally plucked and consumed the Arali flower. “Immediately she realised the mistake and spit it out, but a few drops of the leaf juice went inside,” the officer stated further.

The postmortem doctors revealed that some poisonous content was found in her blood but no remains of the flower or the leaf were found in her stomach. A detailed postmortem report is still awaited.

Surya Surendran was a bright young student who achieved a good score in her BSc in Nursing. Her father Surendran is a construction laborer, while her mother Anitha runs a tea stall. The tragic and untimely death of their daughter quashed their hopes and dreams, mentioned a neighbour.