The parents of Rawshan Jian, the young girl who passed away after being struck by a falling cement bag, declared on Tuesday that they would remain in Maldives until their daughter received justice.
Speaking at a press conference, Jian's mother, Dr Farzana Hussein, stated that the couple chose to return to Maldives in order to ensure justice for their child.
She asserted that they would stay until the end of the ongoing police investigation, after which they would file lawsuits against those responsible.
The couple also expressed gratitude to the kindness and support they received from the Maldivian government and people following the tragedy.
Jian's parents further proclaimed that they saw little improvement regarding the lack of safety protocols and measures practised in construction sites in capital Male', even upon their return to Maldives.
They added that they were driven to seek justice for Jian in order to hold the construction industry accountable, and to prevent similar tragedies befalling other children.
The couple iterated that their daughter's death was clearly due to negligence in the practice of construction safety.
The elder of two children born to a family of Bangladeshi doctors working in Nilandhoo Hospital in Faafu Atoll, Rawshan Jian was struck by a cement bag that fell from the fifth floor of the Nalahiya Manzil construction site in Male' on December 16, 2018. She succumbed to her injuries the next day while in intensive care.
In the wake of the incident, Male' City Council and Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure halted work at construction sites in the capital, to conduct inspections. However, Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI) protested at the time that stopping work at all construction sites was not a solution.
The ministry later permitted W Construction, the contractor of Nalahiya Manzil, to resume work at all of its sites except Nalahiya. The company's permit for Nalahiya Manzil has been suspended until the end of the investigation.
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