A first-year college student in Madurai has died after consuming a substance called ‘venkaaram’ (borax), which she purchased from a local shop after watching a social media video that promoted it as a weight-loss remedy, police said.

Kalaiyarasi (19), the daughter of daily wager Vel Murugan (51) and Vijayalakshmi, was a student at a prominent private women’s college in Narimedu, police said. The family resides at Kamraj Cross Street in Meenambalpuram, Sellur.

Slightly overweight, Kalaiyarasi had been searching for ways to lose weight. Last week, she came across a video on a YouTube channel titled ‘Venkaaram to melt fat and slim body’. Acting on the video’s suggestion, she bought the substance on January 16 from a native medicine shop near Thermutti on Keezhamasi Street, police said.

On January 17, she consumed the substance as advised in the video and soon developed vomiting and diarrhoea. Her mother rushed her to a private hospital in Munisalai, where she received treatment before returning home, police added.

That evening, symptoms recurred; after treatment at a nearby hospital, she came home complaining of severe stomach pain and blood in stools, clinging to her father and crying.

Around 11 pm, intense vomiting and diarrhoea worsened; neighbours helped rush her to Government Rajaji Hospital, where doctors declared her dead en route, police added.

Her body underwent a post-mortem and was handed over to the family; Sellur police have registered a case and are investigating.