A Chinese woman is being accused of trying to terminate a co-worker’s pregnancy by poisoning her water to prevent her from taking maternity leave and thus avoiding a higher workload.

In one of the most shocking cases of work-related incidents reported in China, a worker at a government-affiliated institution in Hubei Province allegedly tried to terminate a co-worker’s pregnancy by repeatedly poisoning her water in order to avoid the higher workload caused by her maternity leave. The nefarious plan reportedly came to light when the victim noticed that her water kept tasting strange, regardless of its source. At first, she was convinced that it was the office’s water supply, but the taste persisted even after she switched to bottled water. That’s when she decided to investigate further.

Photo: engin akyurt/Unsplash

One of the unnamed victim’s friends joked that someone in the office might be trying to poison her, and the woman decided to put the theory to the test by using her tablet to videorecord her desk and anyone who came near it. That’s how she caught one of her colleagues in the act as they poured a powder-like substance into her water bottle before quickly turning away and leaving without anyone noticing.

According to screenshots of WeChat conversations, when confronted, the suspected poisoner said that she tinkered with the victim’s water because she couldn’t handle the extra workload by herself when the pregnant woman went on maternity leave.

The victim has already alerted the police and an investigation is underway. Authorities are treating this case with the utmost seriousness, as if it turns out that the suspect was acting with an intent to cause harm, it could constitute a crime of injury, regardless of the nature of the substance she was using.

Photo: Weibo

The unusual case went viral on Chinese social media, where most users expressed their shock at the co-worker’s twisted solution to dealing with a potential workload increase.

“Poisoning someone just because you do not want them to take leave? Has she been watching too many police dramas?” one person commented on WeChat.