Boy, 3, drowns in pond after wandering out of nursery school
A toddler who wandered away from a German nursery school drowned after he fell into a pond on a neighbouring property, a court has heard.
The three-year-old, identified only as Ramzan, was being looked after at the Rainbow nursery school in the town of Bad Breisig when he disappeared.
On the day he died, there were 83 children at the nursery, the court heard.
At 10:30am when the kids were supposed to be playing in the exercise room, staff noticed that the little boy was missing.
One of the female employees, who has not been named, searched for the little boy before ultimately calling the police for help 30 minutes later.
The boy’s father was also called, and together with the woman discovered his tiny lifeless body in a nearby pond.
The employee tried to resuscitate him, but without success.
Local officials decided there was no clear indication the manager of the clinic, identified only by her first name Lore S., 60, was guilty of manslaughter.
However, prosecutors and the family disagreed and filed a case with the court.
Lore S. has rejected allegations she had been negligent in her duty of care and in her actions.
"From my point of view I am not responsible for Ramzan's death. I have neither violated my supervisory duties nor acted negligently,” her lawyer read aloud from a statement at the beginning of the case.
However, she said she had been unable to work since the death of the young boy.
"I trusted them with my child. How can nobody be responsible?" Ramzan's mother, identified only by her first name Kheda, 26, said.
The manslaughter trial will determine how the boy could have managed to walk out of the nursery school and whether the manager is to blame.
Judge Guido Schmitz, 50, who is leading the case, said he has checked security footage in the area but is still unsure how Ramzan escaped.
"I just want to know what really happened, not just for myself but also for the other children and their parents. We need to bring this case to completion" the boy’s heartbroken father Mikail said.
“For two and a half years now, I hear my wife crying at night, and my other son still asks: ‘When will Ramzan come home?'“
- Australscope
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