Woman poisons party food after dark skin taunts; 5 killed, 120 sick!

• The dead included two of her relatives.

Raigad police in Maharashtra arrested a 28-year-old housewife this evening for allegedly poisoning the food prepared for a family event which caused the death of five persons.Prandya alias Jyoti Suresh Surwase committed the crime as she was fed up with constant taunts from the family and relatives over her complexion and her lack of cooking skills, a police official said.

She allegedly mixed an insecticide in the daal prepared for a house-warming party given by Subhash Mane, a relative, in Mahad village of Khalapur tehsil on June 18, said said Anil Paraskar, Superintendent of Police, Raigad.

Four children aged between 7 to 13 and a 53-year-old man died after consuming the poisoned food. The dead included two of her relatives.

Surwase, who was married two years ago, was always taunted by her family members and other relatives about her dark complexion and her lack of cooking skills, police said.

Holding a grudge, she decided to kill everybody in the family by mixing insecticide in the food, police said.

Khalapur police had sent food samples for testing at the forensic science laboratory which established the presence of insecticide.

Surwase was booked for murder and other relevant offences under the IPC, the officer said. She would be produced in the court tomorrow.