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Guile
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Jun 1, 2010
Stones 'tasted like chocolate'
<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> SUNGAI PETANI - 'IT TASTED like chocolate, that was why I ate them,' said Year Four student I. Yogeswary who was admitted to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here with her two younger sisters and a cousin for eating stones. The girls were hospitalised after they vomited and suffered stomach pains for eating stones collected from the compound of their house in Kampung Padang Lembu, some 20km from here. Yogeswary, 10, her sisters Nageswari, eight, and Ganggadevi, six, and their cousin N. Vikneswary, nine, were admitted to the hospital after one of them revealed their condition to Jerai MIC division chairman R. Supramaniam on Friday.
A visit to the ward yesterday showed that Yogeswary, Nageswari and Vikneswary's condition had improved while Ganggadevi was still weak. Yogeswary said she had been eating stones since last year, adding that it was very crunchy and tasted like chocolate. 'I collected the stones and hid them in my schoolbag and would eat them in my room. One day, Nageswari saw me eating the stones and joined in while the others did so later. 'My sisters, cousin and I are never full after eating food prepared by my mother. We will only feel full after eating the stones.
Her mother V. Sarojini, 27, when met at home, said the girls were admitted to the hospital after her husband, R. Inderan, 43, searched their room and found plastic packages containing stones hidden in their schoolbags and closet. 'I had warned them numerous times about it but they denied doing it. Ganggadevi and Nageswari were admitted to the hospital for the same problem last June and in January this year. 'My husband may earn a small salary working as a labourer but we are never out of food. I am unable to visit my daughters and niece as I have two other daughters and a son to take care of at home,' she said. -- THE STAR
