Uttar Pradesh: Class 7 girl tries to poison entire school, booked

The police in Deoria district have booked a class 7 girl after her school accused her of trying to poison the midday meal.

Schoolchildren eat their free mid-day meal at a government school. Photo: AFP (Representational)

GORAKHPUR: The police in Deoria district have booked a class 7 girl after her school accused her of trying to poison the midday meal to take revenge for her brother's murder, allegedly by a fellow student. The school in Baulia village under Bankata police station alleged that she put a poisonous substance into the lentils being cooked there on Wednesday. The "poisoning attempt" was detected before anybody ate that food. Villagers surrounded the school and beat up the girl's mother, police said. The girl's alleged motive was to kill all students at the school for the murder on April 2 of her brother who studied in class 3. A class 5 child from the same school was accused of that murder and is now in a juvenile home. Bankata SHO Devendra Singh Yadav said a case under IPC section 328, which relates to causing hurt by means of poison, has been registered against the girl. "Preparations are being made to send her to a juvenile home," he said. The case was registered on a written complaint by the principal of the government junior high school. "The school authorities have told us that she decided to take revenge for her brother's murder by killing all the children," he said. "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," said R C Pandey, the district officer for food safety. According to the complaint, school cook Radhika noticed the girl going into the kitchen as she served rice to the children around 10.30 a.m. The cook followed the child and found that her hands smelled. She also saw a white layer coating the `daal' that was to be served to the children, the police said. With the help of another cook, she locked up the girl in the kitchen and informed school principal Bhrigunath Prasad. As this news spread, villagers surrounded the school and started beating the girl's mother. The police and a team from the food safety and drug administration department reached the school. The police then detained the girl and her mother.