Kindergarten teacher stands trial for poisoning children, husband

A kindergarten teacher stood trial for poisoning her husband and 25 children, killing one of the youngsters, in Jiaozuo City, central China’s Henan Province, on Wednesday.

Wang Yun was charged with intentional injury and placing dangerous substances during a hearing at the Intermediate People’s Court in Jiaozuo, thepaper.cn reported.

Wang was accused of placing sodium nitrite she bought online into her husband’s cup on February 19, 2017, causing him to be hospitalized, prosecutors said.

Wang, a teacher at Mengmeng Kindergarten, was also alleged on March 27, 2017, to drop the chemical compound into porridge for a class of 25 children whose teacher, surnamed Sun, she had a dispute with, in order to “take revenge,” according to prosecutors.

Wang was reported to confess at the hearing that she had an argument with Sun over a fight between two children in their classes. She held a grudge against Sun, as she believed Sun snitched on her to the kindergarten's headmaster. Wang said she dropped the poison into the porridge because Sun would sometimes taste it, the report said.

As to what would happen to the children, Wang said “she didn’t give too much thought to them,” the report said.

Twenty-five children were sickened and one of them passed away 10 months later, despite receiving medical treatment.

Sodium nitrite is often used as a preservative in cured meat products. In high doses, it can be lethal.

The mother of the dead child told thepaper.cn that she has brought a separate civil suit against Wang, which will be heard later.

The mother said she hasn’t received any apology from the kindergarten or the defendant. Medical bills of over 1 million yuan (US$140,000) were paid by the local government on behalf of the kindergarten and Wang.

As of 12pm, the hearing is ongoing and no verdict has been reached.