PATHANAMTHITTA: A cow and a calf died after consuming the leaves of the Arali plant. Pankajavalli Amma's cow and calf died at Thengamam Manju bhavanam. The incident occurred last Friday. The cause of death was accidental ingestion of Arali leaves, which were cut by neighbours mixed up with the fodder. Initially mistaking the cow's symptoms for indigestion, Pankajavalliamma bought medicine from a nearby veterinary hospital.

Upon returning home with the medicine, she found the calf dead. The following day, the cow also died. While common indigestion can be relieved by medication, in this case despite administering an injection, the cow succumbed. The livestock inspector, who arrived from the sub-center for vaccination observed a plant near the house raising suspicions. Subsequently, the veterinary department of Pallipuram Panchayat conducted a post-mortem on the cow and confirmed the cause of death.

Recently, Surya Surendran, a native of Haripad collapsed and died at the Nedumbassery airport after ingesting Arali. Preliminary conclusions suggest that the cause of death was consumption of Arali flowers or leaves. The Forest Research Center also found poison in the Arali plant.

The use of Arali flowers for offerings and prasada pujas in Kerala temples has been widely prohibited. President PS Prashanth announced yesterday that although no official ban has been imposed on the flower, Arali flowers are not used for Nivedya Pujas in temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board.