LITIA MATHEWSELL
lautoka
A man who caused the death of his four-month-old daughter last year after he accidently lay on her has been given a suspended jail term.
Kami Namalo pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter arising from a breach of duty.
The court heard that Namalo, then 24, returned home from drinking kava on the night of July 20 last year and was warned against sleeping on the same bed as his daughter because he might lay on her.
While checking on them a while later his partner found Namalo laying over half of their baby’s body, blocking her nose and mouth. Attempts to revive the infant were futile, with the baby pronounced dead on arrival at Sigatoka Hospital. A post mortem examination on the victim concluded that she died from asphyxia due to compression. The court imposed an 18-month jail term suspended for three years.
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