Forensics reveal rat poison in Karnataka school girl death case

The death of the 14-year-old girl at the end of October had created a furore in Karnataka after the opposition BJP had accused the ruling Congress party of protecting three Muslim youths allegedly involved in abducting, assaulting and forcing the young girl to consume poison on October 29.

Investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Karnataka police have so far revealed that the young girl committed suicide because she was upset over being transferred to a new school by her parents for the current academic year. The CID probe has found a suicide note written by the young girl to be genuine. The probe has also found no evidence to substantiate allegations that the girl was abducted, assaulted or forced to consume poison as alleged after the case took a political turn.

The CID probe has found that the young girl concocted a story of abduction for her parents after she played truant from school on October 29 and was found alone at a hillock by some locals. The probe has found that a Muslim youth named by the girl was an innocent person.

While poisoning was suspected to be the cause of the death the CID had been awaiting a formal toxicology report to confirm its findings.

Sources said that the presence of a large amount of phosporous in the tissue samples subjected to toxicology tests indicated that the young girl may have consumed a poison meant for rodents. A small store that the girl’s father owned in Thirthahalli had stocks of rat poison and investigators are looking at whether the girl accessed it, sources said.

The Karnataka government is likely to table a report on the probe into the controversial case in the state legislature next week.