A woman allegedly poisoned a Class 8 student for performing better than her child in a private school in Karaikal, Puducherry.
Published Sep 05, 2022 | 9:37 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2022 | 9:39 PM
The boy's family said he would have been alive had he not performed better than anybody else in the class. (Creative Commons)
In a shocking incident, a woman allegedly poisoned a Class 8 student for performing better than her child in a private school in Karaikal in Puducherry, on 2 September.
The boy drank a bottle of juice, not knowing that it had been spiked with poison by the woman. A day after, the 13-year-old passed away at the Karaikal Government hospital on Saturday night.
Following a complaint from the boy’s family, the Karaikal police arrested the accused, 42-year-old J Sahayarani Victoria, and a local court remanded her in judicial custody in Puducherry.
The police booked her under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.
The boy’s family told South First that he would have been alive had he not performed better than anybody else in the class.
Karthik, the boy’s uncle, told South First that he was the best performer in his class, and it was distressing that he was no more with his family.
“I still cannot believe our little child is not with us anymore. He was the best in all forms. He was a child who excelled in whatever he took part in. Besides academics, he was also great at sports,” Karthik said.
His father Rajendran makes a living by working as a painter, even though he is an employee of a state-run ration shop.
Malathi, his mother, is a housewife and spins flowers for the local markets in their area.
The boy was at his school, rehearsing for the annual day function scheduled for 3 September, when the accused pretended to be his mother and asked the school watchman to give the poisoned juice to him.
Karthik said the woman gave two bottles to the guard. The boy drank one of them and brought the other to his house.
He subsequently complained of burning sensations inside him and puked, after which he was rushed to the government hospital by his parents.
Karthik told South First that had he been alive, he would have topped the state rank lists in the board exams in 10th and 12th.
“Nobody should go through what we are going through now. Recently, his sister was diagnosed with diabetes, and was under treatment. She was so unwell, and the family was deeply distressed seeing her. Now her brother has passed away, and his parents are shattered,” he added.
The family said lack of treatment was one of the reasons for the teen’s death.
“He had come home around 1 pm after rehearsing, and as soon as his mother saw him unwell, she took him to the hospital around 2.30 pm. The staff at the government hospital didn’t admit him but only gave him tablets to stop the vomiting. They said he drank expired juice, which was why he was unwell”, his 15-year-old sister told South First.
However, after seeing the boy in an unwell condition, his parents again rushed him to the hospital the next day.
“The doctor told us they didn’t know what he had consumed,” his sister said, claiming the doctor asked them to confirm it with the police.
South First reached out to the Dean of the hospital, Dr Madhan Babu, but did not get a response.
A highly placed police official in the Karaikal police department, seeking anonymity, told South First that the police had sent samples to a lab and were awaiting results.
The cop said the accused lied about mixing laxative pills from a nearby pharmacy and gave them to the boy through the school watchman.
“We can not say anything without the results from the lab. We are closely monitoring everything related to this case,” the official told South First.
Puducherry Education Minister A Namassivayam didn’t respond to the multiple phone calls from South First.
