CHENNAI: Three class VI girls allegedly attempted to commit suicide, consuming milk laced with anti-lice lotion during lunch hour in their school at Nesapakkam on Thursday.
The girls are believed to have taken the decision after they were scolded by their parents for having brought home a cellphone that had they found on the roadside.
The parents, who were in the Institute of Child Health (ICH), Egmore, said the three girls were out of danger. One more girl student, who noticed the three girls consuming milk, got it from them and drank it without realising the poison content. However, she has recovered. Relatives of the students said the three girls spotted the cellphone on roadside a few weeks ago and brought it home. They had also dismantled it and kept it in one of the girls’ bag. After parents of the girl noticed the cellphone, they switched on the phone and later, handed it over to the actual owner, a construction worker.
Classmates of the girls said the construction worker recently scolded the girls, spotting them near the school. Police said the girls were apparently upset over being scolded by their parents and the construction worker and took the extreme step.
“When one of their classmates saw the three girls consuming milk, she demanded that they share the drink with her, unaware about the poison mixed in it,” said mother of one of the four girls treated in the hospital. K Jayachandran, Deputy Director, ICH said, the condition of three girls was stable. ”They were brought to the hospital at 4.30 pm (on Thursday) and treated in the casualty ward. Later they were shifted to general ward,” he added.