Taunted for skin colour, woman poisons food; five died, 120 fell sick

A 28-year-old woman, who was shammed for her dark skin colour and cooking skills, poisoned food at a relative’s party in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. Five people, including four children, died and 120 others fell sick after consuming the poisoned food.

The incident took place on Monday, when Pragya Survase, a housewife, allegedly mixed insecticide in the food which was to be served to guests at her relative Subhash Mane’s home in Mahad village of Raigad district.

Soon after having the dinner at the party, guests complained of stomach aches and started puking up constantly. Seeing their condition, they were rushed to nearby hospitals and police was informed.

The police found out that they all had eaten the same food at the same event. Presence of insecticide was confirmed after analysing the food samples.

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The police began an investigation and started questioning guests. When Survase was questioned, she didn’t answer properly which drew suspicion. Later, she confessed to poisoning the food after further investigation by police.

Survase was fed up with the criticism by family members and relatives for her dark complexion and decided to kill them all to avenge her humiliation, police said.

“She has confessed to the crime citing marital, family disputes. Further investigations are on,” news agency ANI quoted Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar as saying. Police have arrested her and registered a case of murder, attempt to murder against her.