PUDUCHERRY: A 42-year-old woman in Puducherry town Karaikal allegedly poisoned her daughter’s 13-year-old classmate by spiking his soft drink because the boy always topped in academic and extracurricular activities.
J Sagayarani Victoriya was jailed on Sunday after the boy died on Saturday night.
Karaikal SSP R Lokeshwaran said the woman was envious that Balamanikandan, 13, always did better than her daughter. Both were students of Class VIII. On Friday, during the school’s annual day function, the woman told one of the watchmen that she was Manikandan’s mother and asked him to hand over two bottles of soft drinks to the boy after he took part in a cultural event.
The boy drank a bottle, but started vomiting once he reached home. His parents took him to a private hospital where he underwent treatment and returned home. He fell sick again on Saturday and was admitted to the Karaikal government general hospital where he died on Saturday night. Before that, Manikandan had told his mother that he fell sick after consuming the soft drink she had sent through the watchman.
His mother realised there was some foul play and lodged a complaint with Karaikal town police station. SSP Lokeswaran said the police zeroed in on Sagayarani and picked her up on Saturday. Police said she admitted to handing over two bottles of soft drinks laced with ‘traditional medicine which causes diarrhoea’, to the watchman. Police arrested her for murder and a local court sent her to judicial custody.