PANAJI
In a setback to the police that probed the death of a specially-abled juvenile at a private care institution, the Sessions Court discharged its Manager and Warden, citing that the evidence does not prove a high level of negligence or rashness.
In February this year, the 7-year-old special child Gressy Bibhuti Nayak succumbed to her injuries after she fell into a hot water tub at the institute for special children.
According to the charge sheet filed by the Old Goa police against Rosario Walter D’Souza and Rita Fernandes, the incident occurred when the deceased, along with other children, was taken for a bath on a Sunday evening.
“Nayak, who was left unattended, accidentally fell inside a hot water tub and sustained burn injuries. She was taken to the GMC. She sustained 79 percent burn injuries and breathed her last within 24 hours of the incident,” it said.
A First Information Report (FIR) under section 304-A of IPC for causing the death of the child due to negligence, section 8 of the Goa Children’s Act, and sections 75 and 85 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 were registered against the accused. Helper Meena Dabre, who was also earlier booked for the offense, was not chargesheeted.
The Court, during the hearing, observed that from this material on record, it was evident that the incident took place when the accused had taken the victim and other specially-abled children for a bath but had left them for a short moment near a bathtub to fetch water for bathing them.
“It is not the case of the prosecution that accused no.1 (Fernandes) had left the children unattended for a considerable time and for an unjustifiable reason. She had left only to fetch water for bathing the children, for which purpose she had taken them near the bathtub,” Judge Sherin Paul said.
The Court further noted that in the instant case under consideration, in the event the prosecution brings forth the evidence and if the accused does not controvert the evidence, they will not be liable for conviction, as the evidence on record does not point out to a very high degree of negligence or rashness on the part of the accused.
Judge Paul thus accepted the application for discharge.
