INDIA: A court in India's eastern Bihar state issues an arrest warrant against the principal of the school, where at least 23 children died after consuming a contaminated meal
Record ID:
1377619
INDIA: A court in India's eastern Bihar state issues an arrest warrant against the principal of the school, where at least 23 children died after consuming a contaminated meal
- Title: INDIA: A court in India's eastern Bihar state issues an arrest warrant against the principal of the school, where at least 23 children died after consuming a contaminated meal
- Date: 22nd July 2013
- Summary: CHHAPPRA, BIHAR, INDIA (JULY 22, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) EXTERIOR OF THE RESIDENCE OF ACCUSED PRINCIPAL CROWD OF LOCALS OUTSIDE THE RESIDENCE BAG READING, 'ORGANIC FERTILIZER' MAN SHOWING RICE KEPT ON HIS PALM, USED FOR COOKING MID-DAY MEAL ROTTEN POTATOES USED FOR COOKING MEAL SIGN READING , 'BIJAY PRATAP SINGH, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR' PUBLIC PROSECUTOR , BIJAY PRATAP SINGH, SITTING IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, BIJAY PRATAP SINGH, SAYING: "A warrant has been issued against Mrs. Meena Devi (the accused principal of the school), who is the wife of Arjun Rai. On request of the investigating officer, the magistrate issued an arrest warrant against the named accused." LAWYERS EXTERIOR OF COURT PATNA, BIHAR, INDIA (JULY 22, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) PROTESTERS RAISING SLOGANS AND DESTROYING THE NAME PLATE OUTSIDE THE PROVINCIAL EDUCATION MINISTER P.K.SAHI'S RESIDENCE MEDIA PROTESTER DAMAGING NAME PLATE PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS WITH FLAGS AND BANNER PROTESTERS DAMAGING NAME PLATE PROTESTERS BEATING NAME PLATE WITH STICKS PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS POLICEMEN TRYING TO STOP THE PROTEST CHHAPRA, BIHAR, INDIA (JULY 16, 2013) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) SICK CHILDREN WITH RELATIVES COMING OUT OF AN AMBULANCE RELATIVES CARRYING CHILDREN TO HOSPITAL MAN CARRYING GIRL MAN GETTING GIRL OUT OF AMBULANCE
- Embargoed: 6th August 2013 21:11
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Crime,Disasters,People
- Reuters ID: LVAAX9SGNYP9ZAJE8POWHJXGPP6I
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: In last week's case in the Indian state of Bihar, the children fell ill within minutes of eating a meal of rice and potato curry in their one-room school. They were vomiting and convulsing with stomach cramps - symptoms that experts say would be common in poisoning with such a toxic chemical.
The lunch was part of India's Mid-Day Meal Scheme, which aims to tackle malnutrition and encourage 120 million poor children to attend school. It had already drawn widespread complaints over food safety.
An initial forensic investigation found the Bihar children's meal had been prepared with cooking oil that contained monocrotophos - a substance that belongs to a family of chemicals called organophosphates that share a common mechanism of toxic action.
Six days after the tragedy a warrant was issued on Monday (July 22) against principal, Meena Devi.
Public prosecutor, Bijay Pratap Singh, confirmed reports of the warrant: " A Warrant has been issued against Mrs. Meena Devi (the accused principal of the school), who is the wife of Arjun Rai. On request of the investigating officer, the magistrate issued an arrest warrant against the named accused," he said on Monday (July 22).
Police had been searching for the principal of the school in Gandaman village in Bihar, one of India's most impoverished states, who disappeared, along with her family.
The school provided free meals under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the world's largest school feeding programme involving 120 million children.
The children, aged four to 12, died after vomiting and convulsing from stomach cramps.
Dozens of children were being treated for food poisoning in hospital.
Outraged by the tragedy, supporters of All India Students' Association (AISA) turned violent while protesting outside the provincial education minister P.K.Sahi's house in Bihar's capital, Patna.
The protesters demanded the minister's resignation.
The pesticide that killed the schoolchildren last week is a nerve poison banned by many countries because of what the World Health Organisation (WHO) describes as its "high acute toxicity".
As early as 2009, the United Nations health agency urged India to consider a ban on the pesticide monocrotophos - the substance said by a magistrate investigating the deaths to be the cause of the poisoning.
It had also warned that in India - against strong international health warnings - many pesticide containers are not thrown away after use but recycled and used for storing water, food and other consumables. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None