On February 25th this year, in a kindergarten in the Zhongqu District of Jinan City, a five-year-old girl had her scarf caught by a protruding object on the slide while playing, which led to her neck being strangled by her clothing. The girl was left hanging on the slide and was on the brink of death. Throughout the incident, due to the kindergarten teachers' negligence and lack of supervision, they failed to notice the situation in time, ultimately resulting in the girl's suffocation and death... Recently, it has been reported that the much-discussed campus safety case among the public has been given a first-instance verdict by the Zhongqu District Court of Jinan City. The two involved kindergarten teachers were sentenced for involuntary manslaughter.
Reported by journalist Li ShiWu: A 5-year-old girl was found hanging on the slide and died from asphyxiation.
The court found that Song Mou and Zhang Mou were teachers of the middle class in a kindergarten in Jinan City. On February 25th, 2011 at around 11 o'clock in the morning, Song Mou, as the lead teacher of the middle class, and Zhang Mou, as the nursery teacher, organized outdoor activities for the children at the slide area on the playground. During the activity, the main responsibility for the children’s safety fell on the lead teacher Song Mou, with assistance from nursery teacher Zhang Mou.
At approximately 11:18 AM that day, without accurately counting the number of children, Song Mou and Zhang Mou concluded the activity and led the group away from the playground. This resulted in the victim, a little girl named Yi Yi (a pseudonym), being left alone inside the slide. Her neck was strangled by her clothing caught on a screw at the top of the slide. She was not discovered and rescued until 12:05 PM that day. She was then sent to the hospital but unfortunately passed away after unsuccessful resuscitation attempts.
A forensic examination determined that the little girl Yi Yi died from mechanical asphyxiation caused by blunt external force pressing on her neck. That afternoon, police officers arrived at the kindergarten based on reports from the public and identified Song Mou and Zhang Mou as criminal suspects. After interrogation, Song Mou initially denied the fact of failing to accurately count the number of children but later confessed to the above facts both during subsequent interrogations and in court. On March 10th of the same year, Zhang Mou surrendered herself to the authorities after receiving a phone notification from the police. It was learned that the kindergarten compensated the victim's parents with an economic loss of 798,000 yuan after the incident.
Recently, after the court's review, it was determined that Song Mou and Zhang Mou, due to their negligence, committed involuntary manslaughter under relatively minor circumstances. The prosecution's charge against the two defendants for involuntary manslaughter was upheld. Among them, Song Mou, as the lead teacher, bore primary responsibility for the victim's death; defendant Zhang Mou, as the nursery teacher, bore secondary responsibility for the victim's death. Given their better attitude towards confession and evident remorse, the court sentenced Song Mou to one and a half years in prison, suspended for two years, for involuntary manslaughter in the first instance. Defendant Zhang Mou was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for one year, for involuntary manslaughter.