The headmistress of an Indian school where 23 pupils died after eating a free lunch contaminated with pesticides forced a cook to ignore complaints and serve the suspect food, police have claimed.
Shortly after her instruction, the cook collapsed and, 90 minutes later, the first victim, Anshu Kumar, aged 4, died on his way to hospital.
Investigators believe that the mustard oil used in cooking the meal had been contaminated with poisonous organophosphate pesticides.
The tragedy provoked violent protests from parents and relations in Chappra, Bihar, one of India's poorest states, and anger throughout the country. Several parents buried the bodies of their children in front of the school in protest yesterday.
Abhishek Sinha, a district magistrate, said he believed many of the children who ate the meal at Dharmashati-Gandaman primary school on Tuesday may have been saved had the headmistress, who is now on the run, tasted the food before it was served, as required under the free lunch scheme's rules.
