Aurangabad, Bihar, is mourning a devastating loss after five adolescent girls tasted death literally on January 29. In Moti Bigha village, a fatal curiosity about poison’s flavor claimed four young lives, leaving one survivor to narrate the chilling sequence of events. The 14-year-old described how her friends convinced her to try the bird-killing chemical in a remote spot, treating it like a deadly game.
‘One friend said, let’s consume it and test our fate,’ she recalled. They diluted the poison in water, but the survivor smartly ejected her portion after a mere sip. Helpless, she witnessed her companions aged 12-15 writhe in agony and perish on the spot. Rushing home, she alerted her family, who promptly administered neem remedy to purge the toxin from her system.
Local police, led by SDPO Ashok Kumar Das, link the act to a recent parental reprimand. Spotted mingling with boys during Saraswati Puja, the girls reportedly acted out of humiliation-fueled despair, opting for collective self-harm. Yet, a bereaved father contests this narrative, attributing it to innocent tasting gone awry. The migrant worker from Maharashtra demands a thorough inquiry.
With post-mortems underway and the survivor’s testimony secured, the case underscores rural vulnerabilities. Families united in sorrow for a joint cremation, while the community reflects on accessible poisons and teen peer pressure. This tragedy calls for urgent awareness campaigns on household hazards and mental health support for youth navigating societal expectations.