No fury like a cook's scorn – Ghaziabad family eats rotis made with pee

GHAZIABAD: Worried about health problems members of the household were experiencing, a Ghaziabad-based real estate businessman and his family went to doctors and decided to stick to home food. But when the problems continued irrespective, they decided to look deeper and that is when they were horrified.

Since the only other person who touched their food was the cook who made it, they discreetly put up CCTV cameras to keep a watch on her activities, hoping they would spot something that would help them understand the contamination. They did – the cook, they found, was using her pee to knead the dough to make their chapatis and parathas.

That's how the 32-year-old woman, who worked in the flat at Crossing Republik's GH-7 society for nearly eight years and had a grouse against her employers who would allegedly rebuke her over small things, got back at them.

She was arrested after a complaint was submitted by the businessman's wife.

The complainant claimed four members of the family, including their two children, were diagnosed with liver ailments a few months ago and have been under treatment since. A CCTV camera was installed in the kitchen after the family recently saw a TV programme on a cook mixing pee in the food she served to a family.

ACP Wave City Lipi Nagayach said, "The cook initially refuted the charges but when shown a clip where she was seen kneading flour in a bowl in which she had peed, she claimed her employer often shouted at her for small mistakes. This upset her greatly."

She mixed urine with the flour several times to make rotis, police said. On Wednesday, the woman was arrested under BNS Section 272 (malignant act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life). The section carries a prison term of up to two years and a fine or both. It is a bailable offence.

The incident comes as UP govt is planning to bring in an ordinance that will penalise contaminating food with human waste – such as spit – with imprisonment of up to 10 years, a punishment reserved for heinous crimes such as attempted murder or rape.