Abu Dhabi school girl's death: Appeal rejected

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation rejected fresh appeals by the defendants convicted in the death of a four-year-old Indian school girl after she was forgotten on the bus.

The appeals were made by the school itself, a female school bus supervisor and the company which owns the school bus.

The Court of Cassation accepted an appeal by the prosecution demanding that the supervisor and the company pay half the Dh100,000 diya (blood money) to the victim’s relatives instead of forcing the school to pay the entire sum.

Early this year, the defendants got tough sentences before an appeal court reduced them.

The supervisor working for Al Worood private school in Abu Dhabi was sentenced to six months in prison instead of three years while the bus driver who had also been sentenced to three years got six months.

The court also sentenced the bus company owner to six months in prison and annulled an earlier court ruling to shut down Al Worood.

It ordered the school to pay Dh100,000 compensation for the victim’s relatives and a Dh50,000 fine.

The student Naziha was found dead after she fell asleep on the bus just before the start of the school day in October last year. The girl had apparently spent several hours on the bus after the supervisor went into school and the driver locked the bus on a hot day.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.