400 students in Bihar escape poison-spiked midday meal

School cook’s angry son had added insecticide to the lunch after a fight with his mother

Hundreds of schoolchildren enrolled in a government middle school in Bihar had a narrow escape when they noticed deadly insecticide had been mixed in their school lunch moments before it was to be served to them. Subsequently, the food was thrown in an open field.

The incident took place at a government middle school located in Raipurchor village, in Rohtas district of Bihar, at the weekend.

Reports said the school cook Uma Devi’s son got into a bitter altercation with his mother soon after coming to school. Immediately after this, the boy bought insecticide and stealthily mixed it into the school meal before fleeing the scene.

In the meantime, students noticing a foul odour from the food caused a ruckus. After hearing the news, villagers rushed to the school, ultimately prompting the school administration to throw away the meal. A total of 430 children are enrolled in this school. “Apparently, the cook’s child had mixed poison in the cooked meal in a fit of rage. We are investigating the case,” head teacher Krishnakant Twiari told media.

But for the timely protest by the schoolchildren, the Dharmashati-Gandaman story would have been repeated, school authorities said.

Twenty-three schoolchildren died and many fell ill after they were served a midday meal laced with Monocrotophos, a deadly agricultural insecticide, in July 2013. All the victims were enrolled in a government primary school in the village of Dharmashati-Gandaman in Saran district of Bihar.