Chhapra: Four days after 23 school children died after eating their mid day meal in Bihar's Chhapra, there have been no arrests yet. The question being asked now is as to who really is to be blamed for this tragedy. Locals in Chhapra hold the absconding school principal, Meena Devi, responsible as pressure mounts on the Nitish Kumar government to arrest Meena Devi.
The minute the incident happened, the entire family of Meena Devi fled, leaving behind her house at the mercy of villagers and onlookers. Locals of Chhapra have been thronging her abandoned house, hurling abuses at the empty walls.
They believe no one else but Meena Devi is responsible. "Had she been here, the locals would have burnt her alive," said one of the locals.
The anger is not completely unfounded. Eyewitnesses say that the cook who made the fatal meal pointed out there was something wrong with the oil supplied. But Meena Devi forced her to use the oil and reportedly also forced the children to eat the food.
An inquiry by the Chhapra Commissioner has also blamed the Principal. The fact that she absconded is not helping her case.
"She is the one responsible for this. Had she not been guilty, she would have come out," said another local, Yogi Rai.
The preliminary blood test of the victims show they were poisoned. But whether it was a case of negligence or intentional is what the locals want answers to. "People will naturally blame her since she is the one who is responsible," Rai said.
It is the biggest tragedy in Bihar in the recent times and answers will be forthcoming only if Meena Devi clears the air. Until then for the villagers in Dharmasati, she remains the villain.
school principal and her husband must be given the life imprisonment for
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