68 children died after drinking contaminated cough syrup in Uzbekistan, Indian citizen jailed for 20 years

An Uzbekistani court on Monday sentenced an Indian national to 20 years in prison for the deaths of 68 children allegedly after consuming contaminated cough syrup manufactured by a Uttar Pradesh-based pharmaceutical company. Uzbekistan court jailed 23 people, including an Indian national, for a term of two to 20 years. Singh Raghavendra Pratar, executive director of Curemax Medical, a company that distributes drugs manufactured by India’s Marion Biotech in Uzbekistan, received the longest jail sentence of 20 years.

Reuters reports that the defendants were found guilty of tax evasion, selling substandard or counterfeit medicines, abuse of office, negligence, fraud and bribery. In addition, the court also said that the families of each of the 68 children who died from consuming the contaminated syrup should be compensated US$80,000 (1 billion Uzbek sum). Additionally, four other children suffering from disability will also receive the specified compensation. The court said in its order that compensation will be recovered from the seven convicts. A total of 86 children became poisoned by drinking cold syrup, out of which 68 died.