A Division (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara) Commander, Clifton Hicken, has stated that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is working along with the parties involved in the recent death of a 10-year-old pupil, who died several days after she was kicked in the stomach by a classmate.
Officials of the Force have also been in contact with the families of the late Rosanna Harris and her nine-year-old classmate who reportedly inflicted the injury.
Providing an update on the case, Hicken said that the GPF, the Education Ministry, the teachers of the school in question and social workers are all working together on the matter.
The Commander explained that while the laws do not provide for any criminal charges to be laid against the aggressor in the matter, officials are working with the child to have him undergo counselling.
According to reports, Harris, a former Grade Five student of St Stephen’s Primary School located in Charlestown, Georgetown, went home two Fridays ago with a stomach ache and told her mother that another student had kicked her.
That weekend, the child was in pain and began throwing up. She was then taken to Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), where several tests were conducted including an ultrasound but nothing was reportedly detected and the child’s condition remained the same.
Last Saturday morning, Harris’s mother checked on her and she was responsive. However, a few minutes later, she was found dead in bed by her sister.
A post-mortem examination conducted on Monday revealed that the 10-year-old died as a result of blood poisoning caused by blunt trauma to the stomach which is consistent with a kick.
