The Taichung City Government has said that it is investigating an alleged poisoning of an elementary-school student by their classmates using sugar water laced with devil’s ivy.
The Taichung Education Bureau confirmed on Saturday that it received a report on May 11 that a student experienced dizziness, nausea and stomach pain after ingesting sugar water laced with the common houseplant.
China Medical University Hospital Department of Toxicology director Hung Tung-jung (洪東榮), who treated the student, said he suspected prolonged exposure to toxins from the plant, which is also known as golden pathos.
Photo: Taipei Times file
In a post on the online forum Dcard that has since been deleted, a user accused “Student A” of poisoning “Student R” with the intent to kill over an argument.
Although a teacher attempted to mediate, Student A found three classmates to help them poison Student R late last month, the post said.
Through online research they decided on either devil’s ivy, Asian taro or oleander, and chose one at random, it said.
The post then said that the four students made a juice from the plant mixed with sugar and added it to Student R’s water bottle.
Initially suspecting food poisoning, the teacher held a meeting with Student R’s parents and the school before finding a bottle with the mixture under Student A’s desk the next day, the post said.
Both sets of parents on May 11 informed the police, who confirmed receiving the report, but forwarded the case to the bureau, as minors younger than 12 are not criminally liable.
The bureau said that the school has spoken with the students involved, while the parents have filed numerous bullying and gender discrimination complaints with the school.
Asian taro and devil’s ivy are in the Araceae family of plants, which contain calcium oxalate crystals and saponins, Taichung Veterans General Hospital Department of Toxicology doctor Mao Yen-chiao (毛彥喬) said.
The crystals can cause redness and mild pain if touched, and can cause mouth sores, throat pain, abdominal pain and diarrhea if ingested, Mao said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS