A school headteacher and her husband have been charged with murder after 23 children died from eating pesticide-contaminated lunches in July at the school in eastern India, police said on Tuesday.
The trial of Meena Devi and her husband was expected to begin soon, said police officer Varun Kumar Sinha. They were arrested and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Investigating police officer Raj Kaushal said the headteacher's husband, politician Arjun Rai, stored pesticide at the school that was for use at his farm. The charge sheet filed in a court in Bihar state on Sunday said the chef cooked with it by mistake.
Both denied the charges and told police there was no deliberate act on their part.
The school's cooks have told authorities that the headteacher controlled the food for the government-provided free daily lunch. One of the cooks told police investigators that the cooking oil appeared different, but that the principal told her to use it anyway.
The children who died were aged between five and 12.
India's midday meal plan is one of the world's biggest school nutrition programmes. State governments have the freedom to decide on menus and timings of the meals, depending on local conditions and availability of food rations. It was first introduced in the 1960s in southern India, where it was seen as an incentive for poor parents to send their children to school.
Although there have been complaints about the quality of the food served and the lack of hygiene, the incident in Bihar appeared to be unprecedented.
警方周二称，印度东部一所学校的校长及其丈夫双双被指控谋杀，今年7月该校23名学生因食用被农药污染的午餐不幸身亡。
警官瓦伦•库马尔•辛哈称，米纳•德维校长及其丈夫预计很快将面临审判。他们已经被逮捕，如果如果指控罪名成立则可能被判死刑。
调查警官拉杰•考沙尔说，校长的丈夫阿尔琼•拉伊是一名政客，是他把自己农场要用的农药储放在了学校。上周日在比哈尔邦法庭提交的控告书上指出，厨师在给学生做午餐过程中误用了此农药。
夫妻二人双双否认这些指控，并告诉警方此事故绝非二人刻意为之。
然而，学校厨师已经告诉当局，对于政府发放的学生免费午餐，校长曾一度限制其食物供应量。其中一位还告诉侦查员说，校长曾硬要她使用明显已变了色的食用油。
事故中死亡儿童的年龄在5—12岁之间。
印度的免费午餐计划是世界上最大的校园营养计划之一。各个邦政府根据当地条件以及食物配额自由支配午餐的菜单和时序。此计划于20世纪60年代开始率先在印度南部实行，一度被看做是政府鼓励贫困家庭送子女上学的一项激励政策。
虽然此前有关免费午餐质量以及食品卫生的投诉并不少见，但此次比哈尔邦事件的严重程度似乎是前所未有的。