Dubai: Two lawyers will quiz in court next month a forensic doctor who performed an autopsy on two children after they died of food poisoning.
Prosecutors had earlier accused a 46-year-old Iraqi woman doctor, a 25-year-old Nepalese cook and a 33-year-old Filipino supervisor of negligence and mistakenly causing the death of five-year-old Nathan D'Souza, and his sister Chelsea, 7, last year.
Video from a memorial service for the children:
Earlier this month, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.
The doctor's advocate, Mohammad Rashid Al Suwaidi, and lawyer Abdullah Al Bannai, who is defending the cook and the supervisor, asked Presiding Judge Jamal Mohammad Al Jubaily yesterday to quiz the forensic doctor who carried out the autopsy.
During yesterday's hearing, the doctor was present but the Filipino and Nepali failed to attend courtroom 11. Presiding Judge Al Jubaily adjourned the case until April 5 to hear the doctor's statement.
Prosecutors charged the doctor, the cook and the supervisor with negligence leading to the deaths of the two children in last June.
Al Suwaidi told Gulf News on Sunday: "My client has pleaded innocent since the beginning of the investigation … she denied any negligence. The forensic doctor testified during the prosecution's questioning that my client did not commit any malpractice. We might submit our defence in today's hearing."
According to the arraignment sheet, the cook and the supervisor were charged with violating the public health requirements of Dubai Municipality through unhygienic practises in preserving the food, which led to bacterial contamination.
The doctor was charged with negligence in providing medical care to the children when they were admitted to hospital after eating a meal from the restaurant.
Prosecutors said the children did not receive the necessary medical care to treat the food poisoning.
The trial continues.
