Girl Allegedly Tried Poisoning Entire School To Avenge Brother’s Murder

A seventh standard girl was booked for allegedly trying to poison the school midday meal to take revenge for her brother's murder, allegedly by a fellow student in the Indian town of Gorakhpur on Tuesday. The school accused her of mixing poisonous substance in the lentils being cooked there.

No student fell ill as the poisoning attempt was detected before the food was served. Police reached the campus along with a team of Food and Drug Administration department officials to investigate the matter and check the food samples.

Police said the accused girl and her mother were questioned but the girl denied the allegations. Meanwhile, the mother was beaten up by villagers near the school.

Police are awaiting the report from the Food and Drug Administration department. Bankati police station SHO Devendra Singh said further action will be taken on the basis of the report.

"A sample of the cooked pulses has been sent for testing and it will take at least three or four days to get the report," R C Pandey, the district officer for food safety said.

The girl allegedly wanted to kill all students of the school for the murder of her younger brother, a third standard student who was murdered in April. The accused is now in a juvenile home.

“The school authorities have told us that she decided to take revenge for her brother’s murder by killing all the children,” Singh said adding that the case was registered based on a written complaint by the principal of the school.

According to the complaint, the school cook noticed the girl going to the kitchen as she served rice to the children and when she followed the girl, she noticed that her hand smelled. The cook also noticed a white layer coating on the food. She managed to lock up the girl in the kitchen with the help of another cook and informed the principal.

A case related to “causing hurt by means of poison” was filed against her and preparations were made to send her to a juvenile home, Tribune India reported.

In another incident last month, a tenth standard boy was arrested for allegedly killing a junior to ruin the school's name after he was shouted at for cheating during exams in the Indian city of Vadodara.

"The accused and victim did not have any connection, they did not even know each other. The accused randomly chose boy, took him to the washroom and killed him. It could have been any other student in the school,” Manoj Sasidhar, Vadodara Police Commissioner, said.

In another similar incident in November 2017, a Class XI student was arrested for slitting a seven-year-old’s throat in order to get his parent-teacher meet delayed at a prominent school in the Indian city of Gurugram. The boy’s body was found inside the school washroom by fellow students with his throat slit and a knife next to his body. Autopsy revealed a neck-to-ear cut was the reason for the child’s death.