A student lost her life after she mistakenly drank spirit in Siraha's Mirchaiya on Friday.

Srijana Kumari Mahara, 16, of Padampur, Ward No 11 of Siraha Municipality, was a student at Sagarmatha Higher Secondary School. On Friday, when she complained of pain in the lower abdomen, her teacher gave her medicine, but instead of water handed her spirit to drink.

As her condition got worse after drinking the spirit, principal Pradip Tiwari took her home and left her there, saying she would be okay.

"Principal sir brought her home and told us that she had taken some spirit and would be okay after resting for a while. We believed what the principal said, but as her condition worsened, we took her to hospital but it was too late," lamented Srijana's father Dharmendra Mahara. "She could have been saved if we had got the right information and had taken her to hospital in time," he said, blaming the school for her death and seeking action.

Srijana died last night at Fulkumari Hospital of Karjanha in the course of treatment.

Dr Shyam Kumar Sah at the hospital attributed the death to lack of oxygen.

"Her lungs were completely white and she was suffering from lack of oxygen, which is why she was in critical condition and couldn't be saved," said the doctor, adding that the forensic report would reveal what caused her lungs to turn white.

Police said they were investigating the incident. "The school has admitted mistake, but we are investigating how the girl got the spirit to drink instead of water," said Area Police Office Mirchaiya Chief DSP Hari Bahadur Oli, adding the principal and the teacher in question Ambika Lamsal had been taken into custody.

Lamsal is the teacher who had given the student spirit instead of water while giving her medicine after the girl complained of abdomen pain.

Meanwhile, angry students of the school staged strike on the East-West Highway in Mirchaiya bazaar today. They have sought stern action against the guilty, describing the incident as caused by utter negligence on the part of the teachers in question and the school.

Though police once broke the strike by using force, students shifted to another point on the highway and resumed their strike. Police fired three rounds to open the blocked road.