Hindu extremists poison schoolchildren to frame Muslim headmaster in southern India

NEW DELHI,  India (MNTV) — A chilling plot to remove a Muslim headmaster from his post at a government-run school in southern India led Hindu extremists to poison the school’s drinking water, hospitalizing 11 children and exposing the deadly reach of religious hatred in the country’s education system.

The incident took place in a rural school in southern Karnataka state, where police say members of a Hindu nationalist group conspired to contaminate the water tank in order to fabricate criminal charges against the Muslim head of the institution. The goal: force his removal by triggering a scandal involving student injuries.

Three men — Sagar Patil, Krishna Madar, and Magangouda Patil — have been arrested in connection with the plot. Sagar Patil is a local leader of Sri Ram Sena, a Hindu supremacist group with a history of violent rhetoric and vigilantism.

 Investigators revealed that the group offered money and food to a child—who is related to one of the accused—to carry out the act by secretly mixing pesticide into the school’s drinking water tank.

According to the police investigation, the pesticide was purchased two days before the poisoning and transferred into a soft drink bottle to mask its contents. On July 20, the child was allegedly instructed to pour the chemical into the tank, resulting in 11 students falling violently ill and requiring hospitalization.

Authorities say the discarded bottle became a key piece of evidence, helping them trace the source of the pesticide and unravel the conspiracy. The accused later confessed to the plot, admitting their intent was to trigger disciplinary action against the Muslim headmaster by making it appear that he had failed to safeguard the health of his students.

While the accused have been charged with using poison to cause harm under India’s new penal code, rights advocates say the case reveals deeper rot: how religious bigotry is infiltrating even the most vulnerable spaces—schools.

Karnataka’s chief minister Siddaramaiah condemned the act, calling it a “heinous crime driven by communal hatred.” But observers note that beyond statements of outrage, little has been done nationally to stem the rise of Hindu supremacist networks that operate with near impunity across India.

In recent years, Muslim professionals—teachers, doctors, and civil servants—have faced increasing hostility in workplaces and public institutions, often being accused of imagined conspiracies or subjected to smear campaigns. The poisoning plot marks an escalation, where children’s lives were weaponized in the pursuit of bigotry.