A disturbing incident has come to light from Pathra village in Bihar, Aurangabad, where a woman has been arrested for allegedly poisoning her two young children by lacing laddoos with poison following a heated argument with her husband over the phone.
The accused, Sanyukta Devi, wife of Ravi Bharti, initially went to the police and registered a complaint that unknown persons had poisoned her children, which led the police to launch an investigation.
The shocking case came to attention after days of investigation, in which the police took the woman into custody on Sunday, roughly 27 days after the children’s deaths, according to local authorities.
The two children who were identified as 6-year-old Divyanshu Kumar and his 8-month-old sister, Anshika Kumari fell seriously ill after consuming the sweets and later died, officials said. According to reports, Divyanshu was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries late at night, while Anshika’s condition kept worsening rapidly after she ate the poisoned laddoo. The woman’s actions have sent shockwaves through the village, which has sparked anger and grief throughout the community.
Poisoned laddoos fed to children while family was away
Police said that after investigation, they could not find any angle of enmity or any other cause that might have led to the poisoning of the children. So they started questioning the mother, and during questioning, she revealed that she had laced the laddoos with sulphas, a common pesticide, before giving them to her children, and also consumed the poison herself in a fit of rage after the dispute.
According to Sushil Kumar, Khudwa SHO, the arrested woman has been sent to jail and said that the fights between the woman and her husband had been frequent, however, that day’s fight proved to be fatal for their children. She had given the poisoned laddoos to her children while rest of the family was away harvesting paddy. The officer further added that, “During interrogation… she herself also consumed sulphas and then told police she gave it to her children”.
Following this incident, serious questions about domestic stress and child safety in rural areas have been raised.
