News

Komi Republic investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee continue investigating a criminal case over negligence of the bodies responsible for prevention of child neglect and crimes among minors, whose officials failed to hold proper prevention activities in the family of a two-year-old girl in Ezhva district of the town of Syktyvkar, which led to her death. By the present moment the charges of negligence entailing death of a person (part 2 of article 293 of the RF Penal Code) has been pressed against an official of Syktyvkar Guardianship Office of the Komi Republic Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

According to investigators, in the period between April and October 2014, the accused aware of the immediate threat to the girl’s health and life, violation of her rights and legal interests, that her parents evaded their duties of raising the child and of their omissions that caused threat to the girl’s health and life, performed her professional duty improperly and failed to take exhaustive measures to protect the child’s rights and interests. Namely, she failed to tackle the matter of letting the girl stay with her mother and her partner, or father, did not organize any individual preventive work with them, did not take any measures to take the girl from her mother and arrange her in a facility for temporary living, did not give information she had received during her work with the family to other bodies responsible for prevention of child neglect and crimes among minors, did not initiated the process to strip the girl’s mother and father of custody.

As a result, according to investigators, in the afternoon of 8 October 2014, the man beat the 2-year-old daughter of his 26-year-old partner hard. At that time the woman was away in the town. When she came back, she saw the child unconscious and called an ambulance. The doctors diagnosed a closed heat injury with brain contusion, multiple injuries, bruises, scratches to the body and head. The child was in intensive care for 2 days, but died on 10 October 2014.

The criminal case against the 24-year-old partner of the girl’s mother charged with murder and tortures (paragraph “c” of part 2 of article 105 and part 2 of article 117 of the RF Penal Code) is ongoing. The accused is in custody.

In addition, a criminal investigation against the 26-year-old girl’s mother has been finished. She was charged with failing to raise her daughter and leaving her in danger (articles 156 and 125 of the RF Penal Code). According to investigators the woman had to support a small girl, but failed to perform her parental duty, did not take care about her health, her physical, mental, spiritual or moral development, but let her partner treat her harshly and being obliged to take care of a small baby left her in a state dangerous for her health and life. The criminal case has been forwarded for the indictment to be approved and later will be sent to court to be tried on the merits.

The investigators are analyzing carefully the reasons and conditions that contributed to the crimes. The criminal cases are under control of the Russian Investigative Committee’s senior officials. The Russia’s Investigative Committee is going to give tough legal assessment to the actions (omission) of officials of all the authorities in charge of ensuring and overseeing observance of children’s rights.