Jian's death trial: two slammed with prison sentences, three fined
25 އޮކްޓޯބަރު 2019 | ހުކުރު 16:02Two expatriates were sentenced to six years and three years in prison respectively
Rawshan Jian with her family
The Criminal Court has issued verdicts on five individuals out of the six initially charged, in Rawshan Jian’s death trial.
Six individuals are charged over the eight-year-old Bangladeshi girl’s untimely death; Indian nationals Rajjav Ali, Muthumani Ramachanduran, Gulam Mohamed and Kesharilal Chauhan as well as Moosa Hassan and Adam Shafeeg.
Charges against five out of the six were proven, W Construction’s Managing Director Shafeeq was found not guilty. Two Bangladeshi nationals were slammed with prison sentences, six years and three years respectively.
Two more Bangladeshi national were slapped with fines amounting MVR 7,200.
W Construction’s Senior Site Supervisor Moosa was charged with negligence and was fined MVR 115,000.
During the trial in March, three pled guilty to the charges against them; Ali, Ramachanduran and Chauhan.
Out of the three, Ali and Ramachandhuran are charged with criminal negligence in operating the winch lift that had caused the cement bag to tear and fall, while Chauhan is charged with failure to warn a person of a hazard. A fourth Indian national, Gulan Mahamadhu was also charged for the same offence as Chauhan.
Ali, who was operating the winch lift at the time of the incident, confessed in court, however having stated that he had not intended for the incident to occur. Similar confessions were made by Ramachandhuran, who gave instructions to lift the cement bag on the winch.
Chauhan, who was one of the two who helped load the cement bag onto the winch, reiterated the same sentiments.
Maldives Police Service (MPS) 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 in late February.
Daughter of two Bangladeshi workers in Maldives, eight-year-old Jian succumbed to severe injuries attained from being crushed by a falling cement bag from a 10-storey construction site under the maintenance of W Construction, last December. She died while receiving treatment at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
