President posthumously awards minor who died in Vake Park electrocution incident

President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday posthumously awarded Marita Meparishvili, the 13-year-old who died from injuries sustained in an electrocution incident in Tbilisi’s Vake Park recreational area in October, with the state Medal for Civic Dedication.

The Presidential Administration said Meparishvili had been awarded for “self-sacrifice, humanity and special civic responsibility [in her attempt] to save her friends during the tragic accident”.

Photo: president.ge

Park custodian Devi Mezurnishvili, who rescued two other minors from the fountain in the Park where the three received electric shocks from an exposed wire left in the water following a recent renovation of the area, also received the Medal.

Photo: president.ge

The three minors were injured as they were trying to retrieve a ball that had fallen into the water, with Meparishvili dying from her injuries shortly after. 

Nine individuals, including the Deputy Head of Tbilisi City Hall’s Environmental Protection Service, were arrested following an investigation into circumstances of the incident, with charges of violation of safety regulations, professional neglect, incitement to forgery, forgery of official documents and use of forged documentation filed as part of the inquiry.