Child dies after man ‘mixes rat poison with ice cream’ and serves it to his children

Man’s wife initially told police her children consumed poison accidentally. She later accused her husband after one of them died

Representational Image. A police vehicle patrols the Girgaum Chowpatty beach in Mumbai (AFP via Getty Images)

A man in Mumbai has been accused of mixing rat poison into ice cream that he then fed to his children, killing one and leaving two seriously ill.

Police in India say 27-year-old Ali Naushad Ansari had a fight with his wife on 25 June, and that he afterwards took their three children our for ice cream and then poisoned them to spite her.

The couple’s six-year-old son died at the government-run Sion hospital in the Mankhurd suburb of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state, on Tuesday.

Police have registered two cases of attempted murder and one of murder against Mr Ansari. Local reports said he was a daily wage worker and lived in Sathe Nagar in Mankhurd.

Ms Begum is believed to have lied to doctors initially to try and protect her husband, police said. She initially told officers that her children had accidentally consumed the poison. But on Tuesday - when her six-year-old died - she accused her husband of poisoning them.

Mr Ansari has been missing since.

In her statement to the police, Ms Begum said the couple often fought over monetary issues. On 25 June, after yet another fight with her husband, she left home and went to her sister’s place.

Mr Ansari, meanwhile, took his three children out for ice cream, police told the media. They started complaining of stomach pain at home.

Police said Ms Begum had returned home by then and took the children to Sion hospital for treatment.

The statements of the other two siblings - who are currently undergoing treatment - were taken by the police as well, the Press Trust of India reported.