Homesick Karnataka schoolboy mixes rat poison in water, puts 3 students in hospital

The police said a 15-year-old Class IX student mixed the poison with water on Monday, 27 November. Two Class X students and a Class IX student reported being sick after drinking the water. The school has around 90 students.

The police said the accused minor was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which sent him for rehabilitation at a state-run boys’ remand home.

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The incident

The student had gone home for the weekend and wanted to stay back for one more day. However, his father made him go to the school on Sunday evening.

On his way to school, the boy bought rat poison with the pocket money his parents had given him for the week.

On reaching school, he mixed it with the water in the tank in the administrative block, a senior police officer told South First.

The next morning, three students who drank the water complained of uneasiness and alerted the teachers.

The teachers immediately asked other students not to drink the water and rushed the three students to a nearby hospital.

Since the poison was diluted, it did not harm the students, said the police, quoting doctors.

The local police initially suspected that a rift between members of the staff could have led to the incident.

However, on checking the CCTV footage, they noticed the Class IX student moving suspiciously. On being questioned, he confessed to his actions.

The police said the student was hoping that he could go home for a couple of days more if someone died and the school declared a holiday.

“Though there were no casualties, we took the case very seriously and solved it in a matter of eight hours,” KGF Superintendent of Police KM Shantharaju told South First.