Woman dies after taking temple food in Karnataka

A 28-year-old woman died after consuming food offered at a temple near Chintamani town in Karnataka's Chikkaballapura district, about 80km from here, officials said on Saturday. "A probe has been ordered after a woman died due to consumption of temple offering in Chikkaballapura district," a statement from Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's office said here.

The woman named Kavitha died while receiving treatment at a state-run hospital in the district, Chikkaballapura Deputy Commissioner P. Anirudh Sravan told the media. At least nine others, including two children, who consumed the same food from Gangamma temple in the town were also shifted to the hospital.

"The cause of the incident is being probed," Sravan said. In December 2018, 13 people died while 60 others feel ill after consuming the food served at Maramma temple at Sulvadi village in Chamarajanagar.

The temple's pontiff and three trustees admitted to mixing insecticide in the offering, police had said.