Man poisons four children in Bhojpur village, battles for life in hospital

Ara: Unable to cope with the pressure of raising his four young children alone after death of his wife, one Arvind Kumar (40), allegedly served milk laced with poison to his four children and then consumed the same on Tuesday night at Belwaniya village under the Bihiya police station area of the Bhojpur district.
While Palak Kumari (5) died on Tuesday night at home, her two brothers Tony (7) and Aadarsh Kumar (10) and her sister Nandini Kumari (13) died in a private hospital at Ara on Wednesday. Arvind, who runs an electronics shop to eke out a livelihood, is battling for life in the same hospital. The tragic incident has left the entire village in shock.
Arvind's wife had passed away eight months back due to a disease.
The doctors at both the sadar hospital Ara and private hospital at Ara have confirmed that all the five consumed milk laced with poison.
Station house officer (SHO), Bihiya police station, Aaditya Kumar, said Palak died at her home while her two brothers Tony and Aadarsh and her sister Nandini died in a private hospital at Ara on Wednesday.
Dr Vikash Singh, who treated all the members of the family said, "Out of the three children brought to my hospital, two of them were very critical, gasping for breath. We tried our best to save Aadarsh, but unfortunately he too died on Wednesday. The condition of Arvind is very serious. We are trying our best to save his life."
Before dying, while talking to reporters from hospital bed, Aadarsh said, "Ever since my mother died of a disease, our father appeared disturbed, but he never shared his worry to us. He looked after us, taught us and used to cook food for all of us. On Tuesday night, he treated us with our favourite dish, Puri. After that, he gave a glass of milk to each of us. As soon as we drank the milk, we started vomiting and started feeling a severe stomach ache. We all, including our father, kept writhing in pain. After some time our cousin and uncle's family rushed from upstairs and shifted us to hospital."
Two neighbours of Arvind also echoed Aadarsh's statement. One of them Gupteshwar Prasad, said, "Arvind was in depression ever since his wife died. He looked exhausted and broken. But he never asked for help. He was finding it difficult to raise his four children on his own."
Bihiya SHO said the initial probe has revealed that Arvind was not facing any financial hardship. "He used to run his electronics shop at Belwaniya market and never took loan from anyone, including his brother, who lives upstairs. It is still baffling why he took such an extreme step. Further investigation is going on in the case."