India -children are found sick ‘after dead snake found in school meal’

The human rights body of India investigates reports that more than 100 children became ill from eating a school lunch after a dead snake was found in the works.

Allegedly the cook still had lunch, despite the removal of the dead animal, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said in a statement.

The committee said that around 500 children are supposed to be served the meal in the city of Mokama in the state of Bihar, East India.

After children had fallen ill, the locals blocked their way in protest, the NHRC said.

“The committee has noted that the content, if true, raises a serious issue of violation of the human rights of the students,” said it.

The statement demanded a “detailed report” within two weeks after high state officials, including “the health status of the children”.

The free school meals, known as the afternoon meal, were first introduced for children with poor backgrounds in the southern city of Chennai (Madras) in 1925.

One of the largest such diagrams in the world, it was introduced to combat hunger and to encourage school visits. However, there have been complaints about poor food hygiene.

In 2013, infected food was accused of the deaths of 23 school children In the state of Bihar.

The police said that “very toxic” levels of a pesticide were detected by scientific tests.