Mumbai Court Acquits Father in 2021 Ice-Cream Poisoning Case

Overview

• Additional Sessions Judge Ashwini Kasture held that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to establish culpability.
• Police had alleged the father mixed Ratol into ice cream on June 25, 2021 in Govandi, leading to one son's death and two hospitalisations.
• The victims' mother denied lodging a complaint against her husband, and a daughter rejected claims that he gave them poisoned ice cream.
• Medical and investigative lapses included the failure to preserve the gastric lavage sample, an incorrect cause-of-death entry, and no independent witness tying the accused to a seized Ratol tube.
• Reports say the man spent about four years in jail during the case, and there was no indication of an immediate appeal.