Taiwan elementary school students poison classmate with devil's ivy juice

Oct 27, 2023

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A group of elementary school students have been accused of poisoning a classmate's water in an incident confirmed by the Taichung Education Bureau.

The incident was first made public by a user on the online forum Dcard. In an article titled "Elementary School Students Poison with the Intent to Kill," which had been removed at the time of publishing, an anonymous netizen detailed that the accused perpetrator had fought with the victim prior to the incident.

Though the conflict had been resolved by the teacher, the accused perpetrator reportedly held a grudge and planned to poison the victim with three other classmates. The group allegedly drew lots to decide whether to poison the victim with devil's ivy, Asian taro, or nerium.

After deciding to go with devil's ivy, a common house plant, the group reportedly added the plant's juice, mixed with sugar, into the victim's water bottle.

The victim reported symptoms including dizziness, nausea, and stomach ache after unknowingly consuming the poisoned water. Though the student initially thought the issue to be digestive problems, the teacher found something strange about the incident and notified the school and the student's parents.

The day after the school held a meeting with the parents, the bottle of sugary devil's ivy juice was found under the accused perpetrator's seat. The accused perpetrator allegedly declared the intention of not letting the teacher and victim "off the hook" to classmates, warning them to not speak to the victim.

Parents of both parties escalated the incident and reported it to the police. While the local police confirmed receiving a report, the Education Bureau was notified instead, as children under the age of 12 do not face criminal liability.

Liberty Times reported that China Medical University Hospital toxicologist Hung Dong-zong (洪東榮) said after a detailed diagnosis, he found that the victim had been poisoned with long-term effects.

The Education Bureau was cited as saying that the school in question has been providing guidance and counseling to the students involved in the incident. In addition, in response to parents’ bullying and sexual harassment accusations, the bureau has asked the school to follow relevant regulations in handling investigations.

However, the anonymous Dcard user accused the school as "passive and perfunctory" in handling the case and its refusal to provide video records of its meetings. The user reported that the school told the victim's parents, "If you want to report this to our supervisors, we will respect that."

The user further alleged that the accused perpetrator's father is a graduate of the school and an architect who had been contracted by the school before, accusing him of trying to put pressure and blame on the teacher involved in the case.

Per UDN, the school apologized for the incident and immediately launched an investigation following the incident, in addition to notifying authorities. "Considering that all students involved are less than 12 years of age, in order to protect students’ privacy and provide the opportunity for them to be educated and guided, the school has actively protected the victim from being harmed again and asks the public to give students a chance to correct their ways and grow."