Rawshan Jian death trial: verdict hearing postponed

The Criminal Court has postponed the verdict hearing in Rawshan Jian’s death trial.

While six individuals -two Maldivians and four Indian workers- were charged over the eight-year-old’s untimely death, the last hearing in the case was held on September 30 and a verdict hearing was set for this Monday.

The court is yet to announce a new date for the hearing, but RaajjeMV understands that it will be sometime this month; as per the Criminal Procedure Act, a verdict must be issued within 30 days of the summary hearing where both parties give their closing arguments.

Jian, daughter of two Bangladeshi doctors working in Maldives, died due the severe injuries sustained after being hit by a cement bag that fell from a 10-storey building under construction in the Maafannu ward of the capital last December; the project was under W Construction company.

The four Indian workers charged over her death are; Rajjav Ali, Muthmani Ramachandran, Keshari Lal Chauhary and Gulal Mohamed.

Rajjav is to have operated the vehicle that was used to lift the bag and was charged with reckless homicide, while Muthmani was charged as an accomplice for telling Rajjav to lift up the bags despite being aware that he was not tasked with operating the winch line. The other two workers were putting bags and saw the girl and her mother approaching on the pavement but failed to warn them.

The two Maldivians charged with negligent homicide over the failure to take safety measures are; W Construction’s managing director Moosa Hassan and its senior site supervisor Adam Shafeeq. Hassan is charged with.

While three of the Indian workers have pleaded guilty to the charges, Gulal Mohamed and the two Maldivians from the construction company pleaded not guilty.

Police had concluded their investigation into the case and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s office in February and the charges were raised against the six from W Construction later than month.