The mystery illness in Badhaal village, in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, continues to claim several lives. The death toll has already risen to 17, with the latest victim being a 16-year-old girl named Yasmeena Akhtar Jan, who died at a hospital in Jammu on Sunday. She was the sixth child of Mohammad Aslam to succumb to the disease. Aslam had lost five children due to the illness by Friday. Yasmeena was hospitalized in Rajouri last Sunday before she was referred to Jammu on Monday.
The GMC&AH Principal in Jammu, Dr Ashutosh Gupta, confirmed the death, adding that her condition was critical right from the word go.
Mohammad Aslam’s family has been hit particularly hard by the disease, as in just over a week, he has lost several of close family members, including his four daughters, two sons, and his maternal uncle and aunt. All of them had attended a ‘Fatiha’ (memorial ceremony) for two deceased family members, Fazal Hussain and Robia Kousar, when the mystery illness began spreading. It was in December 2024 that mysterious deaths in two families started raising the situation in Badhaal village, prompting health authorities to get concerned.
The Union Health Ministry sent a team of experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to probe into the situation. The team set up a mobile laboratory in Koteranka and started testing residents and materials from the affected households. Despite extensive testing of food, water, and other samples, all results, including for influenza, returned negative.
In response to the increasing deaths, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked for an inter-ministerial high-level team to visit the village and conduct an inquiry.
On Friday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reviewed the situation and directed the state health department to hasten the investigation. The health teams carried out a door-to-door survey of more than 3,000 people in the affected area, but no cause has been found for the deaths. However, authorities found neurotoxins in some of the samples collected during the probe.
In precautionary measures, they sealed three houses associated with the families whose members were affected and relocated 21 close relatives to government accommodations, where they are kept under close watch. Police also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the deaths further. The authorities have questioned close to 20 villagers, with some of the people being direct relatives of those who fell sick. The condition remains grim as the authorities struggle to determine what could be behind the mysterious disease that has wreaked havoc within the community.