Food poisoning school’s head is arrested

Meena Kumari fled as soon as children began falling ill after eating the lunch cooked at the school in Bihar state.

The dead were between the ages of five and 12, and many others fell ill. Forensic tests revealed that the food contained toxic levels of a deadly pesticide.

Police were questioning Kumari to establish how the pesticide got mixed with the food.

Bihar’s education minister, P.K. Sahi, has said the head bought ingredients for the meal from a shop owned by her husband, who has also fled.

The school’s cooks have told authorities that the head controlled the food for the government-provided free daily lunch.

One of the cooks said that the cooking oil appeared different than usual, but that the head told her to use it anyway.

India’s school meal plan is one of the world’s biggest nutrition programs. State governments can decide on menus and timings of meals, depending on local conditions and availability of food.

The government says nearly half of all Indian children suffer from malnutrition.