In an incident that has sparked outrage on social media in China, an employee at a government-affiliated institution has been accused of 'poisoning' her pregnant colleague to prevent her from taking maternity leave. According to the South China Morning Post, the incident came to light when the employee was caught in a video, adding a suspicious substance to her co-worker's drink.
Notably, the said employee had been regularly spiking her colleague's water bottle. Noticing the strange taste, the pregnant employee initially suspected the office's water supply and switched to boiled bottled water. However, when the strange taste persisted, the expectant mother suspected that someone might have been tampering with it. She then decided to use her iPad to video her desk and caught her colleague in the act.
In the video, a woman wearing a black vest is seen approaching her desk, opening a small bottle and pouring a powder-like substance into it on the desk before leaving quickly.
According to SCMP, the employee took the bizarre step because she did not want her colleague to take maternity leave as she could not manage the increased workload alone.
The victim has now reported the incident to the police and the authorities are investigating. The staff at her organisation are waiting for the results of the police investigation before taking action.
A lawyer told National Business Daily that if the woman's actions were driven by an intent to harm, it could constitute a crime of injury, regardless of whether the substance was toxic or caused actual physical harm.
The incident has left internet users shocked and outraged at the woman's vicious actions.
''Poisoning someone just because you do not want them to take leave? Has she been watching too many police dramas,'' one user said.
Another commented, ''How did such a person even get through the exams to work at a government-linked institution? It seems exams can only weed out academically poor candidates, not the morally corrupt.''
A third said, ''We're all here just trying to earn our bread, why be so malicious? She is too dark.''
