A first-year college student in Madurai has died after consuming a substance called ‘venkaaram’ (borax), which she purchased from a local shop after watching a social media video that promoted it as a weight-loss remedy, police said. Kalaiyarasi (19), the daughter of daily wager Vel Murugan (51) and Vijayalakshmi, was a student at a prominent private women’s college in Narimedu, police said. Acting on the video’s suggestion, she bought the substance on January 16 from a native medicine shop near Thermutti on Keezhamasi Street, police said. On January 17, she consumed the substance as advised in the video and soon developed vomiting and diarrhoea. Her mother rushed her to a private hospital in Munisalai, where she received treatment before returning home, police added.

Source: The Telegraph January 21, 2026 18:32 UTC