Outside Bihar school, a mass grave marks families' anger, grief

Chhapra: "This school will not run... we will not allow it," said Rakeshwar Mahato to NDTV in the village in Bihar where 23 children have died after being poisoned by the free lunch at their school.

"This is where our children were murdered," he said. He lost three grand-children in the tragedy. (Read: Bihar govt denies alert from Centre on mid-day meals)

He was standing next to the government school on piece of land that was sometimes used as a playground. Yesterday, at least six families buried young children here to signal their anger at the over-whelming negligence that allowed Monday's mid-day lunch at the school to be served laced with insecticide.

The graves of the children are marked with small mounds of soil.

More children than usual were present at the school on Monday, said sources, because free text books were to be distributed to them. 

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Among them was 12 -year-old Mamata. Like so many adults in this area, her parents are labourers.  Mamata was determined to get an education, says her aunt. "We all worked in the fields...never went to school. We wanted her to be different," she said.

The grief among so many families here is exacerbated by anger that so far, nobody has been arrested.

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The state government has suggested the poisoning may have been deliberate. The groceries used for the meal were bought from a shop owned by the headmistress's husband and stored in their home. The couple is missing. Local officials say their interrogation could help identify whether the insecticide that poisoned the children was in the food or the cooking oil. (Read)

Results of the chemical analysis of the ingredients seized from the school are still pending.

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Another 25 children are still being treated in hospital, three of them are in critical condition, said local officials.