PANJIM: The Panjim District and Sessions Court, discharged a priest and a nun of St Francis Xavier Academy Training Centre, Old Goa from the charges of negligence for the death of seven-year-old differently-abled girl, who died of burn injuries in February this year.
The Old Goa police had chargesheeted both – the priest and nun of the St Francis Xavier Academy, Old Goa after the victim succumbed to her injuries after she fell into a bathtub containing scalding hot water.
Following the chargesheet, both the accused filed an application before the Sessions Court praying that they be discharged. Arguing on behalf of both the accused, Adv Vinayak Porob submitted that there was no material at all in the chargesheet to frame charge against them.
The police in the chargesheet stated that the priest was entrusted with the care and protection of the victim, being the incharge of the St Francis Xavier Academy Training Centre, Old Goa and he failed to take precautionary measures which exposed the victim to such a death causing situation. Both the accused were chargesheeted for offences under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 75 and 85 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Section 89 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
The chargesheet consisted of the statements of the inmates of the St Francis Xavier Academy Training Centre where one inmate stated that the victim was standing on the chair and fell in the tub while, another inmate stated that the victim fell in the tub having the hot water. A third inmate stated that another girl pushed the victim in the water.
The chargesheet also consisted of statement of the victim’s mother, who stated in her statement that the victim was suffering from delay milestone syndrome and that the victim had joined the St Francis Xavier Academy Training Centre. She also stated that on February 12, 2023, the nun called her informing her that the victim had fallen into a bath tub due to which the victim had sustained burn injuries. She further stated that upon inquires, the nun informed her that she had gone to get hot water while the victim along with 11 other specially-abled children were kept in a queue for bath, when one of the 11 other specially-abled child pushed the victim into the bathtub. She claimed that due to negligence of the accused, the incident occurred.
From the material on record it was evident that the incident took place when the accused nun had taken the victim and other specially-abled children for a bath but had left them for a short moment near a bathtub in order to fetch water for bathing them. It is not the case of the prosecution that the accused 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 near the bathtub. Though there was some amount of nexus between the accused leaving the place and the victim falling into the tub, it cannot be considered as a direct nexus to the victim falling into the tub as it appears from the statement of one of the children that the victim was pushed in the tub by a another child, the Court said.
The public prosecutor told the Court that there was prima facie evidence to frame charge against the booth the accused and urged the Court to dismiss their applications.
Taking into the consideration various judgments and the facts of this case, the Session Judge Sherin Paul discharged both the accused for the offences for which they were chargesheeted in the case.
