Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 27:

After being acquitted by a local court of involvement in a child’s death case, British-Iranian aid worker Narges Kalbasi Asthari today thanked Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, India and Odisha for the support.

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The social worker who runs an orphanage in Rayagada district took to micro-blogging site Twitter to convey her gratitude.

Earlier in the day, Swaraj had tweeted: “I am happy Ms, Narges Asthari is acquitted by Court. My friend @JZarif Foreign Minister and people of Iran should be happy and relieved.

Well wishes flooded on the social media after the ADJ Court in Rayagada pronounced the judgement in charity worker’s favour on Saturday.

The court exonerated the 28-year-old overruling the lower court verdict which had convicted the social worker on charges of negligence resulting in a child’s deaths.

In December last year, Rayagada Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate’s (SDJM) Court had sentenced Narges to one year in jail and imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh to be paid as compensation to the deceased’s family.

Narges was running an orphanage Prishan Foundation for differently-abled children in Rayagada. In November 2014, Narges along with other inmates of the Foundation had taken Aseem to the outskirts of Rayagada town for a picnic. While the picnickers were crossing the Nagavali river on a hanging bridge, Aseem fell into the river and was killed.

Following the incident, Aseem’s father-Peter had lodged a complaint with the police against Narges and Foundation’s Secretary Jewel Raju Gupta. A case was registered under section 304 (B) of IPC against the woman.

Raju Gupta was acquitted by the lower court last year due to want of evidence.