A 23-year-old woman was arrested on Friday for allegedly poisoning
food served at a feast hosted by a relative that resulted in the deaths
of five guests. Her intent, police said, was to kill her husband and
in-laws, whom she claimed victimised her over her complexion and
cooking.
Police said 23-year-old Pradnya Survase of Khalapur,
about 70 km from Mumbai, confessed to mixing a powder used to kill
snakes into the dal that was served to later batches of guests at the
feast hosted by her relative Subhas Mane in Mahad on Monday.
“Pradnya
claims that since her marriage two years ago, she has been insulted
regularly for her dark complexion and accused of not being able to cook
well,” said Vishwajeet Kaingade, senior inspector of Khalapur police
station.
“She has named her mother in-law, Sindhu Survase,
husband Suresh Govind Survase, sisters in-law Ujwala Pawar and Jyoti
Ashok Kadam, and her mother in-law’s sister Sarita Mane and Sarita’s
husband, Subhash Mane for the alleged torture,” the officer said.
Vilash Thikrey, 13, who survived food poisoning said on Monday he remembered the dal tasting “bitter”.
Survase
, who is divorced from her first husband, believes her first marriage
broke down because another relative, Ulka Shinde, had “cast aspersions
on her character”, said police. She alleged Shinde was damaging her
second marriage in a similar way.
“She
[Shinde] had been taunting her [Survase’s] mother in-law for bringing
Pradnya into the family.
This too had led to problems in Pradnya’s
married life,” said Kaingade.
On Monday, Mane had invited more
than 120 people to a house-warming in Mahad. Shinde and her family were
among the guests. The puja was followed by meal cooked on site by a
village maharaj (cook). Food was served from 2.30-11.30pm.
Guests
who ate in in the later batches started complaining of nausea,
vomiting and stomach ache a few hours later. About 88 people were taken
ill. Three children, including Shinde’s son Rishikesh, died.
On Thursday, 11-year-old Vijay Shinde (not related to Ulka Shinde), and 53-year-old Gopinath Nakure died in separate hospitals.
“We learnt that those who had eaten between 4.30pm and 6pm were
suffering from nausea and other issues. We then found out who had served
the food then,” said Kaingade on Thursday.
Police questioned
Mane’s relatives who had been serving food at the time. They included
Survase, who confessed to her crime, following sustained interrogation.
The police said she had chosen the housewarming because she knew all
those she wanted to kill would eat there.
“She took the powder to
Mane’s house. Those she wanted to kill ate the food before she could
mix the poison,” said Kaingade. “Around 4.30pm, Sarita Mane, Jyoti
Kadam and Ulka Shinde’s kids sat down to eat. Pradnya then decided to
kill them and mixed the poison in the dal bucket,” he said.
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