A Louisiana doctor is accused of wasting five crucial minutes while a young child in her care was drowning right in front of her.

Sukanthini Subbiah, 48, was arrested by the Orlando Police Department on Wednesday and charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter of a child for allegedly allowing seven-year-old Khushil Bandi to drown. 

At the time of the drowning on April 10, Subbiah was visiting her mother in Orlando, Florida, with her son, who is also seven years old and was identified as DJ by police, according to an affidavit reviewed by the Daily Mail.

While Subbiah was in town, her son became friends with Khushil and his twin sister, who lived in the neighborhood, according to sworn statements the doctor gave to police.

Subbiah said that she went with her mother and DJ to pick up the neighbor's kids and go to a pool near their home with permission from the twins' mother.

The group arrived around 6.20pm, and the three children immediately jumped into the pool, Subbiah said. Shortly after, the doctor noticed Khushil had been underwater for '45 seconds or so,' she told police. 

Subbiah said she then told the other two seven-year-old children to retrieve Khushil, but they told her the water was too deep. She then requested help from another man at the pool, who jumped into the water and pulled out an unconscious Khushil. 

The doctor told police that about two minutes passed between her noticing Khushil was underwater and requesting help. But interviews with witnesses and surveillance footage reviewed by investigators told a vastly different story, police said.

The surveillance footage revealed that the group arrived at 6.19pm. Shortly after, Subbiah could be seen walking away from the pool as Khushil jumped in. 

The boy then swam towards the center of the pool at 6.20pm before he could be seen 'turning in circles and splashing vigorously' while Subbiah was still out of the surveillance footage frame, police said. 

Seven seconds later, Subbiah returned to the edge of the pool then placed her finger over her mouth in a 'shushing motion' and did 'not appear to notice the decedent still splashing vigorously in the center of the pool,' police said. 

About a minute later, Khushil stopped splashing and sank to the bottom of the pool. After another minute and a half, Subbiah finally went to the edge of the water and was seen 'standing and staring at the center of the pool,' police said.

She continued to stare and do nothing for yet another minute before DJ ran to her side and said, 'What happened to him?' according to police. 

Three minutes later, Subbiah finally got into the water but stopped at knee height. By that point, Khushil had been underwater for five minutes and two seconds, police said. 

Almost another minute had passed before Subbiah approached another man near the pool for help. He jumped in the water and removed Khushil within 50 seconds. The other two children began screaming and said 'he's gone to bed!' according to police.

The total time between the boy being completely submerged and being removed from the water was seven minutes and two seconds, police said. 

Khushil was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Three days after drowning, hospital staff told police the boy had no brain activity, and had swelling in his brain and was suffering from seizures. 

He was taken off life support on April 17 and pronounced dead. An autopsy report concluded his cause of death was ruled as complications of drowning.   

When police interviewed Subbiah, she allegedly said that she 'froze' and thought she was 'going to pass out' after noticing Khushil had been submerged for an extended period. 

She also allegedly said she believed she was not strong enough to pull the seven-year-old from the water, which is why she asked for help. 

Subbiah further admitted that as a doctor, she would be particularly aware that a young child holding their breath for two minutes or more 'would be an extreme amount of time,' police said. 

Investigators concluded that 'Subbiah had the opportunity to alter the outcome.' 

'Had Subbiah acted when she first observed the decedent submerged for an unreasonable period of time—by immediately entering the approximately five-foot-deep water and removing him rather than directing two seven-year-old children to do so—the decedent would have been removed from the water substantially earlier,' they continued.

'The significance of Subbiah's inaction cannot be overstated. The decedent did not suffer catastrophic hypoxic brain injury because assistance was unavailable.'

'Assistance was immediately available in the form of the adult entrusted with his care, standing at the edge of the pool,' investigators added.

Subbiah's arrest came six months after the drowning because investigators had to establish enough evidence that Khushil's death was preventable and not an accident. 

Investigators re-enacted the drowning to establish that Subbiah would have clearly been able to see Khushil while he was submerged. 

They also conducted interviews with witnesses, the other children who were present, Khushil's parents, Subbiah and her mother and first responders. 

Subbiah is being held without bond in the Orange County Jail, according to court records. She faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.