A verdict has been handed down in the North Kazakhstan region against a nurse from the village of Nadezhka in the Kyzylzhar district, where in June last year two children, aged 3 and 6, died from poisoning.
According to the press service of the regional courts, the criminal case against the medical worker was considered under Part 4 of Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Improper performance of professional duties, resulting in the death of two persons through negligence").
The investigation established that in June last year, the mother of the children approached the nurse at the rural medical centre for help regarding food poisoning among family members.
"The defendant, being a nurse, improperly performed her professional duties and failed to provide the necessary primary medical care," the statement said.
It is noted that the nurse did not take measures to hospitalise the patients, nor did she report the case of mass poisoning to the authorised bodies or to the management of the district hospital. As a result, the children, aged 3 and 6, died from acute nitrite poisoning.
The prosecutor and the mother of the deceased children asked for the woman to be found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison. The defendant and her lawyer pleaded not guilty and requested an acquittal.
In the end, the court found the medical worker guilty and sentenced her to 2 years in prison, with a ban on practising medicine for 3 years.