A textile worker in Brazil’s Goias state stands accused of poisoning a co-worker’s water bottle after quarrelling with them over what the woman considered an unfair promotion.
The incident occurred last month at a textile factory in Abadia de Goias, a town in the Goiânia Metropolitan Region. Police claim that the 38-year-old suspect was caught by CCTV cameras tampering with another worker’s drink container before the latter drank from it and felt a burning sensation in her throat.
Subsequent analysis of the container found a high concentration of a potent solvent in the water, which strongly suggests that the perpetrator wanted to poison their co-worker.
Witnesses testified that the two women used to be friends, but their relationship went sour after the victim received a promotion that didn’t sit too well with the prime suspect in the poisoning case. They fought all the time and they had allegedly had an argument prior to the solvent poisoning.
Local police told reporters that the 38-year-old suspect had also entered an exclusive management area, where the company’s chemical products were located, despite lacking authorization. It is believed that this was how she got her hands on the solvent.
After drinking from the tainted container and sensing that something was wrong, the victim called an ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital for treatment. She has since made a full recovery, but doctors said that the solvent could have killed her, had she drank any more of it.
Police arrested the suspect on February 27, after checking the CCTV cameras for clues on the poisoning, and she reportedly admitted to tampering with her co-worker’s container following an argument.
She will most likely be charged with attempted aggravated homicide, which carries a sentence of between six and 20 years in prison.
