Pandemic or Poison? The deadly mystery striking fear into a tiny village   

Noor Muhammad can pinpoint the moment he realised his whole community was living in fear for their lives. ‘As I watched the bodies pile up one after another, I couldn’t help but wonder, “When will it stop?”’ 

Speaking about the devastating death toll that has recently engulfed Badhal in the picturesque Kashmir Valley, the 68-year-old’s voice trembles as he tells Metro: ‘I’ve spent my entire life here, but I never imagined I’d witness something like this. We’ve always been a tight-knit community, but now it feels like we’re being torn apart.

‘The fear has become part of our daily lives. We can’t trust our water, our food, or even the air we breathe.’   

Once a peaceful village that was home to just over 3,000 people in the Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, Badhal is now gripped by terror following a mysterious wave of deaths.

Over the last two months, 17 people – including children, a pregnant woman, and members of three families – have died under unexplained circumstances. With no clear cause identified, panic and uncertainty have taken hold.

A Series of Tragic Deaths 

The crisis began on December 7, 2024, when 40-year-old Fazal Hussain, his wife, and their four children suddenly fell ill after attending a wedding. They suffered from severe stomach pain, vomiting, and extreme drowsiness. Within days, all six were dead.   

At first, food poisoning was suspected. But when Mohammad Rafiq lost four family members (none of whom were at the wedding) and Fazal’s brother-in-law, Muhammad Aslam, lost six of his children, his aunt and uncle to the same symptoms, over a month after the ceremony, alarm spread through the village. 

With no answers, fear and grief soon consumed the community.   

Trouble in the water

Authorities soon turned their attention to the village’s water source, a traditional baoli (water well). Early tests found traces of pesticides and insecticides, leading officials to shut down the water supply and impose containment measures. Under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, public gatherings were banned, and the village was put under strict restrictions. Security forces sealed all entry and exit points.  

This meant families’ living conditions were incredibly stressful as limiting their access to essential services, healthcare, and supplies  made it even harder for them to seek timely medical help or get the necessary support.

The suddenness of the situation added to their distress, as they had to cope with not only the illness but also the challenges that came with being prisoners in their own village. 

What the experts say  

As more people fell ill and alarm grew, authorities soon launched a full-scale investigation, which is still ongoing.

‘We are looking into all possible causes, including food and environmental contamination,’ Dr. Amarjeet Singh Bhatia, principal of GMC Rajouri tells Metro. 

While initial tests on the deceased did not show dangerous levels of pesticides, experts detected neurotoxins—chemicals that affect the nervous system. However, the exact source remains unknown.   

More than 200 samples have been sent to the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), official results are still pending and the lack of clear answers is frustrating the villagers.   

‘There are so many officials here — doctors, scientists, even officers from Delhi — but none of them have answers,’ says Zahoor Hussain, a local resident.   

With the village now under strict surveillance, many feel like prisoners in their own homes.   

‘We can’t visit our relatives or even go to the fields to work,’ Imran Ali, a 35-year-old farmer tells Metro. ‘Our crops are suffering, and government help isn’t enough. We just want answers so we can go back to living our lives.’

A New Theory Emerges  

On January 27, Dr. A.S. Bhatia suggested that organophosphorus poisoning – a toxic pesticide often used in farming – could be responsible.   

He revealed that when atropine injections, a treatment for nerve agent poisoning, were given to hospitalised patients, they survived.

‘We haven’t received official lab reports yet, but based on our trial-and-error approach, atropine worked,’ Dr. Bhatia explained in a press conference. ‘We administered it to two patients to increase their heart rate, and both are now recovering.’  

While this points to pesticide poisoning as a possible cause, officials stress that final conclusions can only be drawn after lab results are confirmed. Until then, the cause remains unkown.

A Village in Mourning 

Badhal, a place once full of life, is now quiet with sorrow as families bury their loved ones. The funerals are heartbreaking affairs, with relatives and friends crying together, struggling to accept the loss. 

People gather for prayers, their faces filled with grief, and a heavy sadness fills the air. Each funeral is a somber moment, with villagers honoring the dead through simple rituals. The community, still in shock, finds some comfort in being with each other. 

Without answers, it’s a village living in limbo.

Amina Khatoon, a mother of two, admits she struggles with paralysing fear.   

‘I never imagined I’d be afraid to watch my children play,’ she explains. ‘The terror is all-consuming. We don’t know what’s causing this, and it feels like we’re just waiting for something worse to happen.’   

Kousar Begum tells Metro: “Every moment in this village feels like a painful reminder of our loss. I never imagined living through such a tragedy. Losing our loved ones has left an emptiness that words fail to capture. The silence around us is a constant, heart-wrenching reminder of what we’ve lost.’

There’s no doubt the tragedy had left a deep sadness etched into the village. However, while Badhal grieves for its dead, many villagers are still holding on to hope and resilience.   

‘It feels like the whole place is in mourning, but we can’t give up,’ says 65-year-old widow Hajra Bano. ‘We’ve lost so many people, and the fear is suffocating. But I can’t let that stop me from caring for my people. They need me to be strong, to show them that there’s still hope.’

Villager Shabbar Khan adds: ‘Every corner of this village feels empty now, but we must stay united, for the ones we’ve lost and for those still with us. This pain will never go away, but we will move forward, for their sake and our own.’