Man Arrested For Feeding Toxic Substance-Laced Fish To Wife, In-Laws

A man in India was arrested Wednesday for allegedly using a highly poisonous substance to kill his wife and in-laws.

Varun Arora, 37, reportedly fed his wife and in-laws fish laced with a toxic substance called thallium. The incident, which took place in January, resulted in the death of Arora's sister-in-law and mother-in-law. His wife went into a coma and has remained the same ever since, local media ANI reported.

The police arrested the accused from his home in New Delhi. They had launched an investigation after receiving a complaint from Devendra Sharma, 62, Arora's father-in-law. Authorities searched Arora's home, and found that he had been researching thallium and its usage on his laptop. It was also revealed he had ordered the substance online.

"Varun did google search about slow poison and then he got an idea about Thallium," Deputy Commissioner of Police Urvija Goel told ANI.

"Varun had made fish for dinner and had mixed thallium, a slow poison. He himself didn't eat fish citing a jaw pain because of enough laughter that he had after watching a comedy show. The kids in the family had milk, hence, they also didn't eat the fish prepared by him," Goel said.

Varun's wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and domestic help ate the poisoned fish.

"On February 3, Varun's sister-in-law, Priyanka Sharma, fell sick and later died. Varun's wife, Divya, also fell sick after the death of his sister-in-law and mother-in-law, too, got ill in March," Goel said.

Authorities said Arora's wife is currently in coma while his mother-in-law died on March 22.

"While Varun's father-in-law was not admitted yet he did complain of sudden hair fall," Goel said.

Arora reportedly told the police during questioning that his in-laws used to taunt him for not having a baby. Arora and Divya got married 12 years ago, but had failed to conceive naturally despite trying for four years. The couple then opted for in-vitro fertilization and had twins. Last year, Arora's wife conceived naturally, but underwent an abortion as doctors said her pregnancy could be life-threatening. Arora's father-in-law told the police the former was furious about the decision.

The police said an investigation is underway, and they are trying to identify the place from where he purchased the thallium.

According to Medicinenet, pure thallium is a bluish-white metal, which is used mostly in manufacturing electronic devices, switches and closures, primarily for the semiconductor industry. It has not been produced in the United States since 1984. Ingesting a large amount of thallium can lead to vomiting, diarrhea and temporary hair loss. It also affects the nervous system, lungs, heart, liver and kidneys.