E-Paper
Girl detained for poising 4 of family to death over ‘discrimination’ in Chitradurga
This was the girl’s second attempt to poison her family, which turned out be a success. In her first attempt, the mother had suspected another lady for the murder bid, a senior police official from Chitradurga said
A minor girl has been detained in Chitradurga’s Gollarahatti area, about 200 kms from Bengaluru, for allegedly poisoning and killing four family members as she felt rejected by her parents and others, police said on Tuesday. She was detained on Sunday.
This was the girl’s second attempt to poison her family, which turned out be a success. In her first attempt, the mother had suspected another lady for the murder bid, a senior police official from the district said. The girl is now in an observation home and will soon be sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, police further said.
The incident took place on July 12 when four persons from the family died after consuming poison mixed in their dinner while one person had survived.
“First we had registered a case of 174 or suspicious death (on July 13),” Radhika G, the superintendent of police (SP) of Chitradurga district said on Tuesday.
The SP said that all five members ate the Ragi Mudhe or ragi ball, a staple diet in rural parts of southern Karnataka and two hours later, they fell sick, started vomiting and cried in pain, while the girl stood silently and watched their suffering.
The girl’s family members who died are her father, mother, grandmother, and sister, while her brother, who also fell sick due to poisoning, survived.
During the course of the investigation, very few persons suspected the girl, who is just under 18, of having something to do with the crime.
“Since she was a minor girl, we did not interrogate thoroughly. But once we got the FSL report, we got direction on how to take the case forward,” the SP said.
Initially, the police had suspected an angle of jealousy among the neighbours and other villagers as the family was doing fairly well financially.
Police said that since the needle of suspicion was always on others, she could get away with anything and felt “emboldened”.
The girl went back to her grandmother’s house where she enjoyed staying.
The police then sent women constables almost everyday to meet the girl and gain her confidence. A woman constable who spoke the Lambani language earned the girl’s trust and after 4 to 5 days, she revealed her role in the incident.
The SP said that the girl had blamed at least three other persons of having forced her to commit the crime but after investigation it was found that the girl was trying to mislead the probe.
Once she said that a lady named Gauri Bai had threatened to poison the family and in two other instances she blamed two boys for having pressurised her in committing the crime. But in all three cases, the stories did not match, pointing the needle of suspicion back on the girl.
She later revealed that she was just a few months old when her parents sent her to live with her grandmother, where she was very happy. But about 3-4 years ago, her parents brought the girl back and things started changing.
Her family, including the father’s mother, used to scold her for not doing well in school, going to work or for her obsession with watching TV.
The SP said that TV serials had a deep impact on her. She also nursed a feeling of neglect as her parents showered love on her brother and younger sister while she was beaten and chided for every small mistake.
She had picked up a bottle of discarded pesticide when she went to work in the fields as she could read the words “poison” written on the bottle. She then plotted to poison her family even though she was not fully aware that she was committing murder, the police said. .
The SP said that the girl is now in an observation home and will soon be sent to the Juvenile Justice Board.
