In pictures : A village in mourning

Makeshwar Ram holds a picture of his grandson Rahul Ram who died from poisoning of his midday meal. Rahul was buried just outside the school by his grandfather, who wanted the grave to serve as a memorial to him and a reminder of the grim tragedy.

A view of the one room school where the tragedy occurred, also showing the grave of the young Rahul who has been buried outside the school by his grandfather.

A thermocole sheet with photos of some of the twenty three children who died due to this tragedy, is placed on Rahul’s grave.

The classroom where the children spent their time. Classes have been suspended after this incident.

The “kitchen” where the food was cooked for the children of the school appeared to be a pile of bricks in the veranda, where the children were also served. A 2010 Planning Commission Report says that a majority of schools operate out of pucca buildings but Bihar is an exception, with 52.5 per cent schools housed in kutcha buildings. As per central government norms, a kitchen-cum-store should be constructed for the purpose of preparing midday meal. Only 42.5 per cent of schools in Bihar have a kitchen shed.

Chandra Devi who lost two of her sons, Rahul and Prahalad to the poisoning, lies on a plain wooden bed in an open shed, with a large crowd of people around her. She is distraught and says, ‘Meena Kumari’s own children should be shot with a gun, then she may understand our pain.’

Chandra Devi is being attended to by a doctor and is on a drip. Many women in the village are under trauma after their children died and have been on drips and medicines since.

Satyendra Ram, father of Rahul Ram, had boarded the 2.38 pm train from Chapra to Ludhiana on the day of the tragedy. At the end of his 1136 km journey, in Ludhiana, he saw what was happening in his village on television news. He got on another train to get back immediately. His son Rahul died due to the poisoning from the midday meal. He and his wife lost a new born baby just a few days before Rahul died, on 14 July.

Pano Devi, one of the two cooks who prepared the food that day. Two children of hers died on consuming the food, and this here is her other child, the twin of a son who died.

A poster of the RJD party lies open in the store room of Meena Kumari's house. Meena Kumari is said to be the teacher in charge of the school where the tragedy occurred, and until recently had been absconding from the police. Speculations were rife as to her husband's political allegiances with the RJD, which was also thought to be protecting her.

A container of oil in Meena Kumari's kitchen. The presence of organophosphate was found in the oil from the school and the vegetables cooked in it. The rice served to the children tested negative for organophosphate. This suggests that the oil contained this insecticide, or as many are saying, the container in which it was stored had the insecticide.

Vegetables and rice in a store room in Meena Kumari's house. On the fateful day when the children were poisoned, they ate a simple meal of rice, potato and soy beans.