Paraguay court upholds compensation for 16-year-old electrocution death

A Paraguayan appeals court has confirmed a ruling ordering the National Electricity Administration (ANDE) to pay more than one billion guaraníes in compensation for a fatal electrocution that occurred 16 years ago. The decision comes more than 16 years after the tragic death of teenager Emilio Morel Medina.

The ruling by the Sixth Civil and Commercial Appeals Court unanimously upheld a previous judgment from the 7th Civil and Commercial Court of the Capital. The initial sentence, issued in April 2020 and clarified in October 2021, found ANDE and property owner Lorenzo Florentín Rodas liable for the death.

Fidelina Medina López, the victim's mother, filed the lawsuit seeking damages after her 17-year-old son was electrocuted on January 12, 2010. According to the lawsuit, Emilio Morel Medina was trying to prevent cows from escaping his neighbor's property when he touched a fence connected to an ANDE meter. The faulty wiring caused him to be electrocuted, resulting in his immediate death.

The lawsuit states that Medina López and her neighbors had repeatedly warned Florentín about the dangerous condition of the electrical wiring, but he failed to address the issue. Similar warnings were allegedly issued to ANDE, also without adequate response. The victim was reportedly the sole provider for his mother, who has a partial paralysis that prevents her from working.

The plaintiff sought a total of G. 1,103,120,000 for moral damages and lost earnings. In his defense, the property owner's lawyer blamed ANDE for the incident.

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On January 12, 2010, at approximately 6:00 PM, my son Emilio Morel Medina went to the side of Mr. Lorenzo Florentín Rodas' property on the Transchaco highway to shoo away cows that were trying to escape the yard onto the road. When my son approached the fence, it pulled him because it was in contact with an ANDE meter cable, property of Mr. Lorenzo Florentín Rodas, causing him to be electrocuted by the fence, and he died on the spot.