The house of Minati Sasmal at Raghunathpur. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 12: A 45-year-old woman died while her two daughters are battling for their lives at a hospital after they consumed poison. The incident was the result of a family quarrel at Raghunathpur village under the Nandankanan police station on the capital’s outskirts last evening.

The deceased, Minati Sasmal was rushed to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack immediately after she consumed poison. She died within minutes after being brought to the hospital.

Her two daughters, Pravasini, 20, and Subhadarshini, 17, have been admitted to a private hospital in Cuttack. Though the family members were tight-lipped about the incident, police said they had consumed poison following a quarrel over culinary matters. Sources said Minati had fought with her husband, Mahendra, a farmer yesterday afternoon over preparing a non-vegetarian dish. Mahendra was not happy with the preparation and shouted at his wife and later her son, Kalu, too, had a quarrel with his sister on the same issue.

Relatives said the three were first rushed to a private hospital in Patia but when their condition deteriorated, the doctors referred them to the SCB. However, the family members took the mother, who appeared to be more serious, to the SCB, while the girls were admitted to a private hospital at Thoria Sahi in Cuttack.

Soubhagya Kumar Mishra, the administrative officer of the hospital where the girls are admitted, said: “They were provided with ventilation support in the intensive care unit. Their condition is still critical. We have kept them under observation.”

The doctors in the hospital said the girls had consumed seeds of oleander, which are poisonous enough to kill a person. One of their neighbours, on condition of anonymity, said there was a quarrel in the family on Monday over food at lunchtime and their only son Kalu beat up his sisters. “The mother and the daughters locked themselves up in a room and consumed poison,” said the neighbour.

The Nandankanan police said they were called by the private hospital in Patia where the victims had been rushed to initially. “After getting a call from the hospital we rushed there, but the victims were not in a position to talk. We came to know that they had a family dispute which led the three members to consume poison,” said Janardan Padhee, inspector in charge of Nandankanan police station, adding that none of the family members had come to them so far.

The police are yet to register a case. Minati’s body has been handed over to her family members after post-mortem.