Acres of rice fields await harvest in Mahagaon in Aheri taluka in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. In the middle of this peaceful landscape lies a patch of land that has been cleared. It contains three graves with mounds of fresh mud heaped on. They belong to Shankar Kumbhare, 57; his wife Vijaya, 55; and their son, Roshan, 29. The area is strewn with the remnants of firecrackers. In this region, villagers beat drums and burst strings of firecrackers when they take bodies to graves. They believe in celebrating life rather than mourning its passing. Even when the deaths are of unnatural causes.
Shankar; Vijaya; their daughter Komal Dahagaonkar, 34; Vijaya’s sister Varsha, 41; and Roshan died within two months. All of them died of thallium poisoning. Thallium is an odour-less, tasteless chemical used mostly in science laboratories and chemical industries, and also in small quantities during radiology tests in hospitals.
According to the police, Roshan’s wife Sanghamitra, 22, who holds a B.Sc (Agriculture) degree, with the connivance of his maternal uncle’s wife (maami), Roja Ramteke, 36, sourced a bottle of thallium from a Mumbai-based pharma company.
