The deaths were reported to be the deaths of Sanjeev, the one-year-old son of local Buchan Sada, Buchan's 66-year-old father Laxman, and his 4-year-old daughter Ragini, who had been suffering from diarrhea for three consecutive days.
Three people, including two children from the same family, have died due to diarrhea that has been spreading for two weeks in Sada Tole, Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality-5, Saptari. More than a dozen locals of the tole have been affected by diarrhea.
Sanjeev, the one-year-old son of local Buchan Sada, who had been suffering from diarrhea for three consecutive days, died last Thursday. Along with Sanjeev, Buchan's 66-year-old father Laxman, 26-year-old wife Parvati Devi, and 4-year-old daughter Raghini were also suffering from diarrhea and were taking medicine from the village clinic. However, the diarrhea did not stop.
'We took Sanjeev and Parvati to Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital in Rajbiraj for treatment, but the doctor said that Sanjeev's treatment was not possible and asked us to take him out,' said Sanjeev's uncle Devnandan Sada, 'My brother (Buchan) was in Punjab, my sister-in-law's family said that they would take him to Lahan for treatment.' Devnandan said that Sanjeev died on the way to Lahan. When they returned home, Devnandan's father Laxman had also fallen ill due to diarrhea. Last Sunday, he also died of nausea two or three times.
‘The 10,000 rupees sent by his brother and my two mobile phones had already been spent on the treatment of his sister-in-law and nephew,’ he said. ‘I could not get my father treated because the money I had raised by mortgaging my father’s citizenship had already been spent.’ Less than a week after Laxman’s treatment, Ragini, who had developed diarrhea, also died last Friday. 
Sada Tole, Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality-5, Saptari. Photos: Vidyananda Ram/Kantipur
Buchan, who returned from Punjab, is distraught after his daughter also died while staying at the treatment center. His 5-year-old daughter Radhika has also been affected by diarrhea and has not been able to get treatment due to financial constraints. Buchan's family, along with Shivshankar Sada's daughter Karina, 10, Krishna Sada's wife Lilamdevi, 25, daughters Gayatri Kumari, 3, and Sugandha Kumari, 6, and Bauku Sada, 60, and more than a dozen locals from the village are affected by diarrhea.
Dipendra Prasad Yadav, head of the rural municipality's health department, said that he only received information about the death from diarrhea through Facebook on Friday night. 'And in the morning, we visited all the houses and distributed medicine, it's diarrhea,' he said, 'There is a lack of sanitation in the village, they didn't even come to the health post on time.' He said that he would hold a disaster management meeting on Sunday and take public awareness and other activities forward.
Dr. Prakash Sah, Medical Superintendent of Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital, Rajbiraj, said that he was not aware of any 'referral' of diarrhea patients. ‘Such patients should not be referred, I am learning more about that,’ he said.
Health Office Chief Jageshwor Khadga said the rural municipality informed them only on Saturday afternoon. ‘There has been no report on the work done in that case,’ he said. ‘Once the report comes, we will provide support and cooperation accordingly.
