A 13-year-old boy is fighting for his life at hospital after he was fed a meal laced with poison, allegedly by his mother.
The victim, a Form One secondary school pupil, is in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital.
The mother allegedly confessed to police officers that on Thursday she mixed Lannate (a powerful pesticide) into a meal of curry chicken and rice which was served to her son that afternoon.
The officers spoke to the mother at the Princes Town District Health Facility where the child was taken by ambulance after he experienced nausea and vomiting after eating some of the meal.
Police seized from the family’s home in New Grant a packet of Lannate which is suspected to have been mixed into the meal eaten by the teenager.
Police said that the 43-year-old mother is detained at the Princes Town Police Station where she could be facing a charge of attempted murder.
The Express spoke to the father of the teen yesterday, who said he too was questioned by the police about the incident and left the police station at around 11 p.m. on Thursday.
He said he had not slept nor eaten and was emotionally torn over the incident.
“I do not know how to cope with this. I do not know what is the status of my son, or my wife, or what to think. We are here and just hoping for the best right now. I reach a point where I do not know what to do,” he said.
Mom frustrated over son’s ‘multiple suspensions’
The father described his wife as good and hard-working and added that she was “frustrated” over their son’s multiple suspensions since he began attending a South secondary school last September.
The father said his son got into school fights as he was being bullied in school, and on Thursday, the mother was contacted by school officials as the teenager was again suspended for about a week for another fight.
“He was frustrated and my wife was frustrated,” said the father. “My wife wanted to frighten or discipline him. I believe that it was a frustrating thing that happened here. Ever so often we have complained to the dean at the secondary school but they are not coming forward about the bullying in school.
“I hope the police and teachers can be more protective of the children in school. They need to see about our children and they need to listen to them about what is happening. There are many other schools where children are being bullied,” the father said.
He said the mother often met with the deans and the form teacher at the secondary school for officials to address the problem of her son being bullied.
“But they never took it seriously enough to get the police involved. There is more school fighting every day. It might even cost a child his life,” he said.
The father said since his son started school in September there were children who tried to “take advantage” of him and “hustle” his money.
On Thursday afternoon, the father said that he, the mother and their son had an argument in their house at around 3.40 p.m.
He said the meal was placed on a plate for the teen and initially he refused to eat it.
“I do not know if he knew the food had anything in it. But I heard him say that he was ‘fed up’. That he was ‘going to eat the food and call it’.
“I believe it was frustration which led to this. She is a hard-working lady. She goes out of her way for her children. She treats me well. She is not a bad person. I am still in shock this happened,” he said.
