Pinay, 3 others meted jail terms for school bus death in Bahrain

A Filipina and three others were sentenced to jail for the death of a five-year-old student who was left behind on Sept. 19 inside a school bus amid soaring temperatures in Bahrain that day.

 
The Filipina - a bus monitor hired by the school as a cleaner - was sentenced to six months in prison, Gulf News reported Wednesday.
 
Similarly sentenced to six months in jail were the bus owner and the transportation supervisor, the report said.
 
On the other hand, the class teacher was sentenced to one year in jail for reportedly failing to act on the absence of the victim at school.
 
But the court acquitted the school principal, who said the kindergarten section was not under his management.
 
“The investigation revealed that the bus monitor was in fact a cleaner who was appointed by the school principal to accompany the students. The driver involved in the tragic incident had been asked by the regular school driver to replace him temporarily even though he did not have a driving licence,” Northern Governorate Chief Prosecutor Hussain Al Bu Ali said.
 
The kindergarten student, identified in the report as Rashid Fadhel Buzuhair, fell asleep while inside the bus and was locked inside. 
 
He was found dead a few hours later, the report said. The student was on his way to school with his twin brother Abdullah.
 
When he was left behind, none of the students or the bus driver or monitor noticed that he was left behind.
 
Abdullah allegedly mentioned to the teacher that Rashid was sleeping. Rashid’s body was discovered around noon when the driver was preparing to ferry the students home.
 
“The boy was found dead inside the locked bus as the driver and supervisor failed to ensure all students left on arrival at school,” said Bu Ali.
 
Following the tragedy, the school located in a suburb of Manama was shut down by the education ministry, though it eventually re-opened the classes.  — ELR, GMA News

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