Woman Accused Of Leaving Daughter In Smoke-Filled Apartment

INDIANA BOROUGH (KDKA) -- Police say a local woman left her 15-year-old daughter sleeping in a smoke-filled apartment.

It all started at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday when police and firefighters responded to a 911 call at an apartment on North 8th Street.

"Upon arrival, they found a lady in her 40's who had been cooking and then subsequently fell asleep," Indiana Police Chief William Sutton said.

According to police, when Mavis Pararai came out of the building, she lied to emergency crews.

"When they got her outside the home which was not on fire but filled with smoke, they questioned to her as to was there anybody else in the home and she responded that there wasn't," Sutton said.

Sutton said that wasn't true.

"Later when the firemen entered the house, they found a young lady, a 15-year-old child, asleep in her bedroom, quite safe, but nonetheless in the house," he said.

Sutton said she was questioned about why she didn't tell them her daughter was in the apartment, but says she didn't answer those questions.

Pararai has been a math professor at IUP for the past four years.

"I can confirm for you that she is a professor here at the university," Michelle Fryling, a spokesperson for IUP, said. "Of course, we don't talk about personnel matters, but I can tell you right now it's in the hands of the court to decide."

Although Pararai was charged, she was never arrested or taken into custody.

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