Mahdia tragedy: 15-year-old student charged with 19 counts of murder; remanded

The 15-year-old student who is accused of setting the Mahdia Secondary female dormitory on fire was on Monday charged with 19 counts of murder and remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre, Sophia, Georgetown.

The teenager appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce via Zoom at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court. The student cannot be named because she is a juvenile.

She was not required to plea to the indictable charges.

The teenager was represented by a battery of lawyers including attorney Dexter Todd and Dexter Smart.

The matter was adjourned to July 5 for statement and disclosure.

Police received legal advice over the weekend to charge the teenager with a murder charge for each life claimed in the life.
A total of 19 children– 18 girls and one boy- died in the devastating fire started which started after 23:00 hrs on Sunday, May 21.

The fire continued for some three hours before it was controlled.

Another 29 girls were injured in the fire. Many of them have received the necessary treatment for their physical injuries and are receiving mental health support.

While two girls were critically injured. One of them, a 13-year-old was flown to New York for critical care.