Woman allegedly poisons pregnant colleague to prevent her from taking maternity leave
A woman allegedly tried to poison her pregnant colleague to prevent the latter from taking maternity leave, fearing that the workload might be too much for her.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported a government worker from China was seen in a video going to her colleague’s desk and attempting to add a powder-like substance to the latter’s drink.
The victim reportedly noticed that her drink tasted strange.
She initially suspected their office’s water supply, SCMP reported, and switched to boiled water.
But the strange taste remained.
The victim remembered a friend joking that someone may have tampered with her drink, so she used her iPad to video her desk. That was when she caught her co-worker in the act.
The co-worker said she could not handle the workload alone if the pregnant woman took her maternity leave, hence the attempted poisoning.
The pregnant woman reported her colleague to the police.
The government worker's company said it’s treating the incident with utmost seriousness, SCMP reported. It’s waiting for the results of the police investigation before taking action itself.
The woman's actions could constitute a crime of injury if she intended to cause harm, regardless of whether the substance was actually toxic or not, a lawyer told National Business Daily as cited by SCMP.
The incident went viral on China's social media, with many users condemning the act.
“We’re all here just trying to earn our bread, why be so malicious? She is too dark,” a user is quoted as saying.
“How did such a person even get through the exams to work at a government-linked institution?" another user said. "It seems exams can only weed out academically poor candidates, not the morally corrupt."
