After analyzing the case of an adult who caused the death of a nine-month-old baby, the court established that this action can send a person to prison
In the last few hours, the Supreme Court of Justice established that shaking or shaking a minor is child abuse and, therefore, a crime for which people can be convicted. For the court, these actions are qualified in this way because they can cause serious injuries to the body of minors and even death.
“It is reasonable to ensure that violent shaking are aggressive expressions that, if directed towards a minor, constitute child abuse and can cause injury or death,” the Supreme Court of Justice stated.
The decision was made after the magistrates had to analyze the case of an adult in Bogotá who shook his nine-month-old granddaughter so hard that it caused her death. As it was known, the grandfather took the baby with great force and made sudden movements, causing the minor to lose consciousness; all this, trying to correct her because she wouldn’t stop crying.
The baby was alone with the grandfather, because the mother had gone out a few minutes before to the store and the minor was crying. When the woman returned, she found the unconscious girl in the arms of the adult.
The girl was quickly transferred to a medical center, but there the doctors confirmed that she had arrived without vital signs. In this case, the Court considered that the grandfather should be tried and sentenced for the crime of manslaughter, which in legal terms refers to the guilt of someone who causes the death of someone unintentionally. , but performing an act that does intend to cause harm to the body or health.
Taking this into account, the authorities determined that the grandfather shook the baby so hard that he did not realize that he had taken her life, and sentenced him to a custodial sentence of 12 years and 6 months in prison. .
The case occurred in 2015, when the grandfather was charged by the Prosecutor for the death of the nine-month-old baby. However, at that time the man tried to defend himself by telling the authorities that what had really happened was that his granddaughter had fallen and rolled down the stairs of the house , a version that was denied by the forensic experts.
According to the final report of the forensic examinations that were carried out on the body of the minor, she died due to a violent shaking. “According to the expert witness, the baby’s injuries did not correspond to those of a fall, but rather a jolt, which was determined as battered child syndrome,” reads the Court’s ruling.
In 2015, the Prosecutor’s Office obtained a conviction of 25 years in prison for the grandfather for the crime of manslaughter; however, when the case was analyzed by the Court and they established that the grandfather had no intention of murdering the minor, the sentence was not removed but it was reduced to the one mentioned above. At that time, the prosecuting body also linked the mother of the minor in the process as co-author of the crime of aggravated homicide, but a judge acquitted the parent.
“The court of appeal The criminal court ruled out that it was a manslaughter because it was not due to negligence or carelessness of the grandfather, but because of the mistreatment he inflicted on him. Nor was it a homicide with intentional intent because it was not his intention to cause death”, the Court pointed out to explain its reasons.
According to the Court, Although the grandfather had no intention of ending the life of his granddaughter, yes he could foresee that an act of this nature would be capable of injuring the minor.