A woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a 13-year-old boy who is said to have outperformed her daughter at their school in India.
Bala Manikandan passed away on Saturday (3 September) after drinking a soft drink while preparing to perform at his school’s annual day cultural event on Friday, in the southern Indian coastal town of Karaikal, Puducherry.
When he got home that night, the student, who was said to be top of his class in studies and extracurricular activities, started throwing up and was taken to hospital, where he later passed away.
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S Madhan Babu, the regional medical officer of the government hospital, explained: "Our doctors gave him the necessary treatment for poisoning. The boy was conscious and doing better on Saturday. He was under observation and was kept on a liquid diet throughout the day. He vomited at night and then suddenly collapsed.”
Police have now arrested Sahayarani Victoria, accusing her of posing as Manikandan's mother and going to the school, where she is said to have asked the doorman to hand over bottles of the soft drink to the 13-year-old.
CCTV footage showed Victoria asking the doorman to take the bottles, after which Manikandan's parents filed a complaint at the local police station.
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Victoria was arrested on suspicion of murder, and police say she later confessed to mixing 'laxative pills' into the drink after buying them over the counter from a local pharmacy.
R Lokeshwaran, senior superintendent of police, told The New Indian Express the mother 'wanted to stop the boy from participating' in the annual day events at the school, where Victoria's daughter is also a student.
The superintendent said police are still waiting for autopsy reports to determine 'what was exactly added to the drinks she gave the boy', but the young boy's body was returned to his parents after the autopsy.
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Following Manikandan's death, the student's family and relatives accused authorities of not treating him properly and staged a protest in front of the hospital. Authorities said his condition suddenly deteriorated on Saturday, and doctors have expressed belief the 13-year-old student died due to asphyxiation after food particles went into his respiratory system.
Tamilisai Soundararajan, Puducherry lieutenant governor, described herself as being 'really pained to come across the incident of a boy being poisoned to death'.
Police have charged Victoria with murder. She was remanded in judicial custody on Sunday.
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Emily Brown