General Prosecution Office Overturns Dismissal of Charges Against Teenager from Parchovany
Teenage Sofia from Parchovany faces accusations of involvement in a classmate's suicide. The Regional Prosecution Office in Košice halted proceedings in January, but the General Prosecution Office of the Slovak Republic overturned this decision last week.
General Prosecution Office Overturns Dismissal of Charges Against Teenager from Parchovany
Investigation into the death of fifteen-year-old Roman from a primary school in Parchovany is continuing. The General Prosecution Office of the Slovak Republic last week overturned a decision by the Košice regional prosecution office, which halted criminal proceedings in January against classmate Sofia. This was reported by Korzár.
Roman died in November 2023 after falling from the roof of a school building. During a break after the third lesson, he climbed through a window from a shared corridor onto the roof, moved towards a ladder on the opposite side and climbed onto a section of the building at the level of the second floor. From there he jumped onto a concrete pavement. An ambulance brought him to hospital in Trebišov at 12.15, where he succumbed to his injuries at approximately 16.15. The cause of death was post-traumatic brain swelling.
Police began criminal proceedings several days after the tragedy. Investigators assumed that previously unknown perpetrators in school premises and elsewhere, through verbal encouragement and other actions, helped the victim to jump.
Key evidence was to be video recordings from several mobile phones. In addition to Roman on the roof, they also captured verbal communication between pupils on the ground. Sofia told police that at the moment captured, she called out: "Jump." However, she claimed that this was not intentional incitement to suicide, as she did not know that Roman had such intentions.
In June 2024, then fifteen-year-old Sofia was charged with the crime of involvement in suicide. The charge was later reclassified to a misdemeanour. The Košice regional prosecution office, after months of investigation, halted proceedings in January with the reasoning that her conduct was not a criminal offence. The General Prosecution Office has now overturned this decision, thereby opening the way for further investigation.
Source: Korzár