Parents guilty of sevenyear-old daughter's death through negligence

A court has found the parents of Victoria Aluka, a seven-year-old girl who died of a rare illness in 2018, guilty of negligently causing her death and criticised the systemic failures which allowed it to happen.

In a judgement handed down on Monday, Victoria's parents Sunday and Rashida Aluko, both from Nigeria, were handed twoyear prison sentences suspended for four years and ordered to pay court expenses of just over €3,000, after the court heard how they did not seek medical assistance despite the child showing symptoms for weeks before her death.

"Although the Court cannot say whether any medical treatment could have enabled Victoria Aluko to overcome this tragic condition, the Court can safely say, on the other hand, that the neglect of her symptoms made her death an inevitable consequence."

But besides punishing the parents for neglect, Magistrate Leonard Caruana also castigated the authorities for failing to act decisively, saying that in addition to her parents, the child had also been failed by the system, expressing disbelief at how it took two years and the death of a child for the authorities to issue a care order for her surviving siblings.

Emails exhibited "show a great deal of toing and froing between various entities such as the school's officials, the Emigrants Commission, FSWS-Appoġġ and Child Protection Services, amongst others," noted the magistrate.

Victoria Aluka died in January 2018 of aplastic anaemia, a severe form of anaemia, the cause of which is not medically understood. She had been rushed to hospital from a residence in Żabbar which had been lent to her family by the Dominican nuns.

A care order for her two siblings was issued almost immediately after her death.

Magistrate Caruana observed that it was "evident that the governmental authorities involved did not give this case the urgency and attention it required until it was too late". Initially being followed up by the Emigrants Commission, social workers and other agencies became involved when Victoria's parents refused to send her to school.”

"It was clear that their status was being prioritised over the children's educational, social and medical needs.”

"It is clear in the Court's mind that by consistently neglecting Victoria Aluko's symptoms, both the accused neglected their duty towards the minor... The Court highlights that all parents and guardians are legally and morally obliged to look after, maintain, instruct and educate their children and look after their health. In this case, this lack of attention is further aggravated by the fact that Victoria Aluko was too young to take care of her health and therefore relied totally on her parents to take care of this need - a care which the parents failed to provide without any justifiable cause. Had they exercised their diligence timely, Victoria Aluko would have had a fighting chance, albeit slim, to overcome this condition or, at least, to receive the appropriate treatment that could have extended her life."

After the Ħal Far tent village was converted to a male-only residential facility, the family was moved to the Żabbar residence, a move which the court said had "severely affected the Aluko family's functionality".

"It clearly results that the move from Ħal Far tent village to St. Joseph Home, Żabbar severely affected the Aluko family's functionality. Sunday Aluko Olunuywa became so obsessed with the status of his wife and children in Malta that he believed that they have no rights in Malta, and this notwithstanding the consistent assurances by the social workers and other officials that this was not the case and that they all enjoyed the same rights in Malta. Their obsession was so profound that for a period of nearly two years prior to the tragic incident, they refused to send their children to school and kept them indoors most of the time. It was clear that their status was being prioritised over the children's educational, social and medical needs.”

"From the acts of the case, it results that Victoria Aluko had been exhibiting symptoms of anaemia for a number of weeks prior to her tragic demise. In fact, from Dr Mario Scerri's medical report, it transpired that the minor had been complaining about pain in her feet since November."

The magistrate said he could not understand why, in the face of a prolonged serious situation which lasted over two years, it took the death of Victoria Aluko for the application and issuing of the necessary Temporary

Care Order, "when in November 2017 there was already talk of the serious need for this Order."

And although in November 2017 a doctor had pointed out the need for the children to have a following examination at Mater Dei Hospital, for some unknown reason, this follow-up examination never materialised. Moreover, the court added, closer to the date of the tragic death, social workers had been on strike and were communicating or setting up multidisciplinary meetings to discuss cases.

"The court finds, however, that although the system failed Victoria Aluko, the ultimate responsibility for her health was left in the hands of the accused as at law they were still jointly vested with her care and custody."

After taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the court ruled that the accused did not merit an effective custodial sentence. "In this particular case, although the Court firmly believes that the accused need attention and treatment in regard to their obsession, it is evident that the provisions of [the Probation Act] would have no effect on them." This only left the court the option of imposing a suspended sentence.