India, 100 children sickened after eating snake-laced lunch

In India, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has initiated an investigation following reports that more than 100 children became ill after consuming a school lunch that contained a deceased snake. The meal was served at a government school in the town of Mokama in Bihar. This incident forms part of the government’s programme to provide free school meals to millions of children in government schools across India. Officials regard this as a means of encouraging children to continue their education. A similar incident occurred in 2013 when 23 schoolchildren died after being fed a meal contaminated with pesticides in Bihar’s Saran district.