Upset with having been humiliated for her dark complexion by her in-laws and a few other relatives for two years, a 23-year-old woman mixed a deadly pesticide in the food served at a house-warming party hosted by one Subhash Mane at Mahad in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Monday, leading to the death of five people and at least 80 people were hospitalised.
The incident, which was treated as case of food poisoning, has taken a shocking turn, with Khalapur police on Friday establishing the foul play.
Jyoti, alias Pragnya Survase, was arrested for the multiple deaths and arresting mixing poison in “dal” served at the house warming party on June 18.
Jyoti was arrested on Friday evening for death of four minor children and a 53-year-old man and hospitalisation of at least 80 persons as part of a conspiracy to kill her husband Suresh Survase, mother-in-law Sindhu Govind Survase, sister-in-laws Ujwala Pawar and Jyoti Kadam, relative-host Subhash Mane and his wife Sarita.
Jyoti has been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of IPC, was on Saturday produced before a local court which remanded her in police custody till June 28.
The investigations have revealed that she had carried Organophosphate pesticide (OPP) that is used to kill snakes, to the house-warming party, in a plastic sachet. After mixing the pesticide in “dal”, she threw the sachet outside the host’s house through a rear window, a fact that came out through a confession made by her to the police.
“After we arrested her last evening, the accused (Jyoti) has confessed to having mixed poisonous pesticide in the “dal” served at the house-warning party. We are trying to ascertain if there are more persons in the conspiracy behind the whole thing,” Raigad’s Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjaykumar Patil told The Pioneer on Saturday.
Three children - Kalyani Shingurde (7), Hrikesh Shinde (12) and Pragati Shinde (13) - died on Friday at a nearby hospital where they had been rushed for treatment. Two others - Vijay Shinde (11) and Gopinath Sambhaji Nakure (53) - died on Thursday.
“Of the 120 invitees who had consumed food at the function, 80 were hospitalised. From among the 80 persons, 61 persons have been treated and allowed to go. Nineteen persons are undergoing treatment at different hospitals of Navi Mumbai and Panvel,” Patil said.
Jyoti Siurvase told police that she was miffed with the manner in which her mother-in-law, her husband, sister-in-laws, Subhash Mane - who incidentally is the sister-in-law of the accused woman - and his wife used to taunt her for the past two years for being dark in her complexion and not being able to cook.
“She used the lunch served at Manes’ house-warming party as opportunity to eliminate her husband, in-laws and the hosts in who had taunted her for her being dark in her complexion. As destiny would have it, she could not serve pesticide-dal to her husband, mother-in-law and host Mane as they had already consumed foot. She did serve poison-mixed dal to her sister-in-laws, Mane’s wife and daughter. Incidentally all of them survived even after eating pesticide-laden food,” a senior police officer said.
A divorcee, Jyoti had married Suresh Survase more than two years ago. Her first marriage with one Digambar Jadhav from Ausa in latur district had ended within days after her tying the knot, with her husband dumping her after allegedly suspecting her conduct.
What ripped the lid of the conspiracy behind the multiple deaths and large-scale hospitalisation of guests at the house-warming party were the serum test reports of two patients which indicated the presence of Organophosphate, a pesticide, and the recovery of a plastic sachet containing traces of the pesticide which the accused had thrown behind host Mane’s house.
The investigators have sent the plastic sachet containing traces of Organophosphate for chemical analysis.
“Though it is an open and shut case, we are not taking any chances. We will be recording the statement of the accused before a magistrate under section 164 of Cr PC,” a senior investigating officer said.