An Indian lady, Pradnya Survase, who killed five party guests at a housewarming party by poisoning them because they kept mocking her cooking, now faces a death penalty after following the incident which occurred in Mahad, in Raigad district, on June 18.

The 23-year-old Pradnya Survase has confessed mixing a powder used to kill snakes in the dal to serve food to some of the party guests, at a feast hosted by her relative Subhas Mane in Mahad, Police said.

“Pradnya claims that since her marriage two years ago, she has been insulted regularly for her dark complexion and accused of not being able to cook well,” said Vishwajeet Kaingade, senior inspector of Khalapur police station.

“She has named her mother in-law, Sindhu Survase, husband Suresh Govind Survase, sisters in-law Ujwala Pawar and Jyoti Ashok Kadam, and her mother in-law’s sister Sarita Mane and Sarita’s husband, Subhash Mane for the alleged torture,” the officer said.

Mane who had her house-warming party had invited more than 120 people to a house in Mahad. Shinde and her family were among the guests. The puja was followed by a meal cooked on site by a village maharaj (cook). Food was served from 2:30pm to 11:30pm.

The guests who ate in the later batches started complaining of nausea, vomiting and stomach ache a few hours later. About 88 people were hospitalised. The poison has killed four children and a 53 years old man.

Police questioned Mane’s relatives who had been serving food at the time. They included Survase, who confessed to her crime, following sustained interrogation. The police said she had chosen the house-warming because she knew all those she wanted to kill would eat there.

Vilash Thikrev, 13, who survived the poisoning, said on Monday he remembered the dal tasting bitter

Survase, who is divorced from her first husband, believes her first marriage broke down because another relative, Unka Shinde, had cast “aspersions on her character”, police said. She alleged Shinde was damaging her second marriage also.

Shinde had been taunting her mother-in-law for bringing Pradnya into the family. “This too had led to problems in Pradnya’s married life”, said Kaingade.