Day: December 4, 2012

Afrasheem’s murder was well planned, worth MVR 4 million, claims Police Commissioner

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has claimed that the murder of MP for Ungoofaaru constituency Dr Afrasheem Ali was a well planned murder worth MVR 4 million (US$260,000).

In a press conference held on Tuesday to brief the media about the high profile murder case, Riyaz stated that the new revelations came made amidst several difficult challenges for police investigators.

The commissioner claimed that the investigation team included consultants from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and 80 police officers including forensic, multimedia and legal experts. He added that this was the first case that had been worked on by such a large criminal investigation team.

In a presentation shown during the press conference, Riyaz claimed that 11 suspects were initially arrested, however three had now been released. He added that about 200 items had been analysed as evidence, including forensic and digital evidence, which he claimed was enough to prosecute the prime suspects.

“Over 500 hours of CCTV footage have been analysed, more than a hundred people have been interviewed and about 13,000 phone call recordings have been analysed out of which 12,000 were from one single tower,” Riyaz said.

Afrasheem’s movements right before the murder

The commissioner claimed that Afrasheem was last seen alive inside the premises of the state broadcaster, Television Maldives (TVM). The presentation suggested that Afrasheem was seen leaving the premises in his car around 11:04pm, according to the nearby CCTV camera footage.

Afrasheem left the station after participating in a religious TV program called “Islamee Dhiriulhun” (Islamic Life), with Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Qubad Aboobakuru.

In his last words, aired on the show, Afrasheem said that he was deeply saddened and asked for forgiveness from citizens if he had created a misconception in their minds due to his inability to express himself in the right manner.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed was quoted in local media as saying that the Islamic Ministry had not forced Afrasheem to offer a public apology for anything during his last television appearance and disputed that there was any religious motivation in the death of the moderate scholar.

Photo snaps taken from several CCTV cameras suggested that he had passed the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) building, the Bank of Maldives (BML) building and Raalhugandu Area, all of which are located in the outermost road of Male, Boduthakurufaanu Magu, police claimed.

Afrasheem had parked his car just a few metres from his residence and had entered it at about approximately 12:04am, police said. The murder occurred just a few minutes later, police alleged.

Afrasheem’s body was discovered by his wife at the bottom of the stairs of their apartment building shortly after midnight.

According to the presentation, the first few police officers arrived at the scene at about 1:30am, exactly one and a half hour later. A second police jeep arrived soon afterwards.

Riyaz stated that following the report of the incident, all police officers patrolling in the capital were brought to alert and were ordered to focus on finding anyone that was acting suspiciously.

Minivan News journalists on the night of the incident observed that police officers in Specialist Operations (SO) uniform entering several coffee shops including Sea House Café’, however no one was seen being arrested.

The Police Commissioner claimed that the first suspect was arrested at 1:55am, just 20 minutes after the incident was reported.

Police also revealed the identities of two suspects arrested in connection with the murder case: Hussen Humaam Ahmed and Ali Shaan, while a 17 year-old minor was also arrested on suspicion of assisting the murder.

Commissioner Riyaz expressed confidence in prosecuting the suspects stating that the police had “enough evidence” to prove all of them guilty. He added that the cases of the suspects would be sent to the Prosecutor General (PG)’s office by the end of this week.

“Political motive behind the murder” – Commissioner of Police

Commissioner of Police alleged that sum of MVR 4 million (US$260,000) was to be paid for the murder of the MP, which he alleged involved a political motive.

“This is an act of terrorism and the people behind this are politicians,” Riyaz claimed.

He alleged that two suspects had been arrested for supposedly financing of the murder, but declined to reveal their identities claiming that the investigation was still ongoing.

He also said that  police had concluded the first part of the investigation which involved identifying who had been directly involved in murdering the MP, and how it was carried out.

“We have been able to establish who did this. We have been able to establish how this happened. The next thing is to find out who was behind this,” he said.

The commissioner also dismissed the rumours that the murder was linked to religious fundamentalists, stating “no evidence has been gathered suggesting that this murder was carried out for a religious motive.”

He further claimed that the findings of the investigation were based on fact and solid evidence and not were intended to create political leverage against the political rivals of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Riyaz claimed that the prime suspects involved in the murder were from a local gang named ‘Kuda Henveiru’ (Little Henveiru-ward), whose members had previously been involved in several criminal activities.

“The findings reveal that a dangerous trend of ‘killing for money’ is growing within our society. I call upon businessmen and politicians to not to pay money to young people to conduct criminal activities for their benefit,” he said.

Riyaz added that new cases of criminal activities were being revealed through the investigation and that such cases would be dealt with firmly.

Despite repeated questions from journalists as to what the “political motive” involved, Riyaz at first responded stating that he could not go into the details of the case, but later said that police were able comprehend a picture out of its findings but said this needed to be “verified”.

“Zero tolerance”

Riyaz called on parliament members to not to hesitate in giving more powers to the police and said that such vast powers were required to curb growing criminal activities within Maldivian society.

“I know that members of the parliament are hesitant to grant more powers to the police because of the political views they hold. But we need stricter laws to stop such acts from happening. Hesitance to grant more powers isn’t a solution for police discrepancies. Powers should be granted and at the same time they can establish a proper accountability mechanism,” he said.

The commissioner said that police would have “zero tolerance” towards criminals and would utilise all powers and resources at hand in preventing crimes.

“That means, we will not allow a drunkard to freely wander around the street. Police officers will question suspicious people on the road and they have been given the order to stop and search anyone who they feel is suspected of  being a criminal or carrying out a crime,” he said.

He added that special measures have been taken and orders have been given to SO officers to do “crime patrolling” throughout the capital city 24 hours a day.

Riyaz also expressed concern over former President Mohamed Nasheed’s latest remarks in which the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate suggested that Afrasheem’s were foreigners and had fled the country after committing the crime.

“We have no evidence that suggesting the murder was carried out by foreigners. It is really concerning when such remarks are made for political gain,” Riyaz said.

High profile murder

MP Afrasheem was brutally stabbed to death on the night of October 1, outside his home.

Local media reports suggested that the MP was stabbed four times in the back of the head and a chunk of his skull was missing, and that he also suffered stab wounds to the chest and neck. The MP was rushed to ADK hospital where he was pronounced dead.

He was buried shortly before 5:00pm the following day at the Asahara cemetery in Male’.

Thousands gathered for the funeral prayers which took place in the Islamic Centre. The prayers were led by former President and leader of Afrasheem’s party, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Initially, four suspects were arrested by police in connection to the murder and the Criminal Court extended the detention period of the arrestees by an additional 15 days.

However, a female suspect arrested – Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activist Mariyam Naifa – was given a conditional release on October 21 while the detention of the remaining two suspects were extended for another 15 days.

Another suspect was also arrested later in November, after police claimed he was wearing the same coloured shirt as someone caught on CCTV footage near the area where Afrasheem was murdered.

Dr Afrasheem was elected to parliament in 2009 as a member of the then-opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP). Following the opposition’s split, Afrasheem sided with the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and faded into the political background.

Widely considered an Islamic moderate, Dr Afrasheem took outspoken and controversial positions on issues such as the permissibility of playing music, and praying next to the deceased.

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GMR disputes government’s claims to international media that it had agreed to vacate airport

Indian infrastructure giant GMR has said it “categorically refutes” claims made by the government to international media today that it had agreed to vacate Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

The government yesterday dismissed an injunction on GMR’s seven day eviction notice granted by the High Court of Singapore, and vowed that the airport would be run by the state-owned Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) by December 7.

A Finance Ministry official said on condition of anonymity that GMR had agreed to vacate following “informal communication.”

“It’s unofficial. They are even selling off their items at a cheaper price. They have given 40-60 percent discounts. They are selling off whatever they can sell off from here including iron bars, concrete, and cement. So I think there won’t be any confrontation or any such nature. All the department heads and senior staff will start working for the Maldives Airports Company Limited MACL from December 7,” the official claimed. “Even though they maintain in public they are not going to vacate, they are going to vacate.”

President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad meanwhile told reporters that “Whatever the financial implications on their investments, we have already filed a case in Singapore court for arbitration. We will pay the compensation, what we have to pay.”

However CEO of GMR Male International Airport Limited (GMIAL), Andrew Harrison, said that while GMR had met with a delegation from the government at 11:45am this morning, “we did not agree nor state our willingness to hand over Male’ airport.”

Harrison told Minivan News that he had been advised by a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Colonel at 11:03am that Defence Minister and Acting Transport Minister Mohamed Nazim wished to meet him personally.

“The meeting was attended by the Acting Transport Minister, the Chairman of the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority, our lawyer in the Maldives and three members of the MNDF,” Harrison said, in an emailed account of the meeting.

“The meeting was cordial and the Acting Transport Minister outlined the following: that MACL would be operating the airport from Saturday morning in line with the Government of Maldives communication to GMR-MAHB; that the Minister would like a smooth transition as the airport operations should not be affected or suffer in any way; that passengers should not be inconvenienced and therefore all activities including Duty Free would be allowed to continue as is.”

According to Harrison, Nazim informed GMR that “According to their legal advisors the injunction issued by Singapore High Court does not prevent them from taking over the airport and the injunction cannot be applied to a sovereign state.”

Nazim had furthermore proposed offering “100 percent employment in MACL to all staff currently working for GMIAL and an announcement to that effect made tomorrow by the MACL Board .The offer includes both local and foreign staff at their existing terms and conditions including salary,” Harrison stated.

“Our position, which I communicated to them, remains crystal clear. The Singapore High Court has issued an injunction which clearly prevents MACL or the Government of Maldives or any of its agents from taking any action that interferes with GMIAL operating the airport. The injunction clearly prevents them from taking the action outlined in their notice issued to us stating that the airport would be taken over at the end of the seven day period. We remain resolute in our position and there is no question of an offer being made and certainly no question of any alleged offer being accepted as we will simply not agree to our rights nor the injunction being undermined in any way.”

GMR’s lawyer had advised that the injunction was to be was to be honoured “as their representatives and the Attorney General [Azima Shukoor] were party to those proceedings and were present during the proceedings in the Singapore High Court.”

“Further to this we have issued a communication to their lawyers to confirm that their client (MACL/GoM) will not ignore the injunction and outlining the consequences as well as the disturbing media reports that they will ignore the injunction and take over the airport as planned,” Harrison stated.

Nazim had explained that “as he was not a legal person” he would arrange for a legal team to meet GMR’s representatives tomorrow, and pledged to “maintain dialogue”, Harrison said.

“We will always maintain dialogue but our legal position is very clear and we will not compromise on our legal position which is clearly supported by the injunction.”

Moreover, “any version of the meeting being described any differently to my response is categorically untrue and we maintain that we have been granted the right to continue operating the airport in line with the injunction. There is and has never been any change in our position.”

Harrison added that Nazim had also said that “no force used to take over the airport” and that “media reports that the MNDF would take over the airport are untrue.”

Claims that the company was discounting were true – “in the duty free shop”.

“We have a 40 percent sale in duty free because we are trying to minimise our stock holding,” said Harrison. “It is delighting passengers. But I can categorically state we have no intention of going anywhere.”

Indian industry groups back GMR

The 400,000-member Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has meanwhile issued a statement today in support of GMR, warning that “the attitude of Male’ Government, despite the rulings of Singapore High Court, will shake the confidence of the investors and will jeopardise the spirit behind the cooperation of the SAARC nations.”

The industry group appealed to the government to respecting the Singapore judgement, and said it “conveys its displeasure against any unilateral termination of economic agreements, that will be determent to the growth of the nations and might even sow seeds of suspicion amongst the potential investors in all times to come.”

A second industry group, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), also issued a statement in support of GMR.

“It is extremely important for all the concerned parties to respect the sanctity of the concession agreement and abide by the provisions provided therein to resolve any dispute within the stipulated legal framework”, said the CII’s Director General, Chandrajit Banerjee.

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DRP plays down warnings of political violence, but concerned over parliamentary “climate of fear”

The government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has claimed that “bullying” by front-line activists of its coalition partners has created a “climate of fear” not conducive to holding “free and fair” votes in the People’s Majlis on key upcoming matters.

Speaking to Minvain News, DRP Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef stopped short of backing claims by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) concerning “threats of political violence against their lives and property by rivals”, believing the government was not directly involved in such acts.

However, Shareef claimed that rhetoric by front-line supporters of fellow government-aligned supporters like the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had affected its decision yesterday to support a secret vote for a no confidence motion against President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Other senior government figures are also set to face no-confidence motions in the next few weeks, including present Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who today dismissed the MDP’s allegations as a politically motivated attempt to try and “paralyse” the running of the government.

“Such allegations are purely politically motivated and [serve] to cover up [the MDP’s] efforts to bring government to a halt. I do not believe that [the MP’s] allegation have anything to do with a threat of violence, rather, some members assert it as a cover up to hide their attempt to paralyse government,” he told Minivan News by SMS. “The state has already offered security to all members of the parliament.”

The MDP’s parliamentary group visited the Indian High Commission in Male’ yesterday to register concerns over alleged political violence facing MPs. The visit was made of ahead of its attempts to pursue no confidence motions against President Waheed and his deputy, Mohamed Waheed Deen.

Parliament voted yesterday 41-34 to approve amendments to the parliamentary rules of procedure to conduct no-confidence votes to impeach the President and remove cabinet members through secret ballot.  The vote passed after a similar proposition was narrowly defeated 39-34  last month.

Meeting with Indian high Commissioner D M Mulay yesterday, the MDP said it had been given assurances that its concerns of MPs facing violence towards themselves and their property had been forwarded to the Indian government.

India is itself presently involved in a diplomatic dispute with the Maldives over the government’s decision to terminate an US$511m contract signed with India-based Infrastructure group and reclaim the site despite an injunction from the High Court of Singapore.

“Prior to the motion to make the ballot for confidence motions secret, leaders of alleged usurper President Waheed’s political supporters, including fundamentalist Islamists with extremist intentions, had made a number of threats against MPs who would dare vote against the alleged usurper government,” the MDP claimed in a statement.

“In this regard, Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla threatened physical force against MPs publicly saying that they would ‘chase and pursue MPs on the roads’.“

Registering its concerns with the Indian High Commission, the party alleged that MPs had also been targeted with violent acts including “baton beatings” and “surprise raids of their privacy”.

The MDP also raised the issue of the murder of PPM MP Dr Afraasheem Ali, who it claimed had allegedly been murdered for his “moderate religious views” and been previously threatened the government-aligned Adhalaath Party.

However, investigations are continuing into Dr Afrasheems death, with police having not yet officially confirmed any motive behind the murder.

The Maldives Police Service today refused to comment on media reports concerning the arrest of Abdulla Jaavid, son in law of MDP Chairperson Reeko Moosa Manik, in connection with the investigations into Dr Afrasheem’s murder.

Police Spokesperson Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef said he had no comment on the matter, adding that police were holding a press conference this afternoon.

Responding to the MDP’s allegations about increased political violence against MPs, DRP Deputy Ibrahim Shareef said that there was a large amount of “confusion” within the political arena at the moment. However, Shareef said he did not believe the government of President Waheed was directly attempting to “bully” MPs over how they chose to vote on key issues.

“I do not believe President Waheed or his government has such a plan,” he claimed. “There are of course threats of violence taking place on the streets right now.”

Shareef criticised both the MDP and PPM – the majority and minority representatives in parliament – for what he alleged were their use of tactics such as “activist” methods and violence to try and influence MP voting.

“We are a new democracy and people seem to believe that violence is part of the democratic way, they simply don’t believe they are acting in an unusual way,” he claimed.

Shareef maintained that recent rhetoric from some government-aligned parties towards parliament was tantamount to bullying, which he said had been the reason behind the party’s decision to encourage its MP to back a secret ballot against removing the president from office.

“Right now, we are under tremendous pressure and have sacrificed a lot. Under this bullying, parliament cannot conduct a free and fair vote, “ he claimed, pointing to rhetoric from some members of the PPM and other parties regarding parliament’s conduct and voting.

“Distrust”

Shareef also slammed the partisan nature of media in the Maldives for furthering to create distrust among the public over the work of MPs and “poisoning” the atmosphere in parliament.

Despite supporting the push for secret voting, Shareef said he hoped such votes would not become the normal course of procedure for parliament.

“[Secret ballots] should not be the norm, but in the current climate of fear we are seeing, this is an emergency situation,” he said. “We would of course prefer open votes, and I hope that [secret ballots] are only a temporary measure.”

Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla Shahid, PA MP Ahmed Nazim, and PPM MP and Spokesperson Ahmed Mahlouf were not responding to calls at time of press.

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Supreme Court invalidates anti-defection clause in Decentralisation Act

The Supreme Court has on Tuesday invalidated clause 119(e) of the Decentralization Act, which had prevented a councilor from switching political parties after he was elected.

The clause was brought into force following an amendment proposed to the Act on January 2011.

The Supreme Court’s seven-member bench held that the concerned clause contradicted the articles 30(a) and 26(c) of the constitution.

The case was filed by Independent MP and lawyer Ibrahim Riza and Lawyer Ahmed Shaheem who argued that the clause was unconstitutional. Jumhoree Party (JP) Youth Wing Leader Moosa Anwar also intervened in the case.

The article 119(b) of the Decentralisation Act states: “Those elected under a ticket from a political party shall lose his seat if he leaves or he is removed from the party he was when elected.”

The new verdict by the Supreme Court will mean that councilors can now switch from party to party without losing their seat.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed ratified the act on May 2010 but rejected a complementary bill on local council elections.

Nasheed at the time said that his then Attorney General (AG) Husnu Suood advised the president’s office that although the decentralization bill would not hamper the implementation of government policies, some provisions were “legally questionable.”

“If the bill becomes law, both the attorney general and this office has noted that there could be legal problems in enforcing it without amendments,” he told the press.

He echoed similar sentiments on the bill in his weekly radio address at the time where he stated that he would sign the bill into law despite misgivings as any further delays would do “more harm than good”.

“I hope that after I ratify this bill, amendments will be made as soon as possible, within the present framework, to change the provisions where these conflicts could arise,” he said at the time.

Although then opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) removed the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s concept of provinces from the government’s bill, Nasheed said the Act did not prohibit the creation of province as it stipulates that new legislation would be needed to form “province councils.”

Despite opposition from MPs in opposition claiming that grouping atolls into seven provinces was unconstitutional as 21 administrative areas or atolls were clearly specified in the constitution, Nasheed later established provinces in an administrative level.

The bill was subjected to several amendments and court cases.

Last August, the Supreme Court ruled that provisions of the Decentralisation Act were not in conflict with the constitution.

In March 2011, former State Minister for Home Affairs Mohamed ‘Monaza’ Naeem filed a case at the apex court arguing that some provisions of the Act contradicted the unitary nature of the Maldivian state as laid out in the constitution, and requested the conflicting articles be struck down.

Naeem had argued that the Local Government Authority (LGA) created by the Decentralisation Act was not answerable to any government minister while article 140 of the constitution states – “A member of the cabinet shall be given responsibility for each authority or institute established by the government or the People’s Majlis, except for independent institutions specified in this constitution or established pursuant law. Such member of the cabinet must take responsibility for the operation of such authority or institution and must be accountable for it.”

Previously, several councilors lost their seats following removal from their respective political parties.

In March this year, Noonu atoll Maafaru Island Councilor Anwar Abdul Ghanee lost his seat after he was removed from his party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) but contested the by-elections with Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) ticket, winning the seat.

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Maldives identifies “first” child HIV infection

Senior health figures have called on the government, NGOs and members of the private sector to help step up attempts to promote AIDS prevention in the country after authorities discovered that a two year-old child had tested HIV positive earlier this year.

While accepting that HIV infection rates remained relatively low in the Maldives, Minister of State for Health Lubna Zahir Hussain said that efforts needed to be increased across all sectors of society to tackle attitudes towards high-risk behaviours that allow the virus to be transmitted.

Lubna heads the National Drug Agency (NDA). Her comments followed the hosting of a special NDA workshop on HIV prevention held on December 1 to commemorate World AIDS Day. The workshop was focused particularly on the HIV infection through drug abuse.

Though statistics indicate HIV infection rates have been limited in the Maldives over the space of the last two decades, health officials in the Maldives have begun to raise concerns about the risk of cases spreading across the country.

In October Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed claimed it was only through “incredible luck” that HIV had not spread across the Maldives, considering the prolific levels of unprotected sex and intravenous drug use.

Addressing concerns raised by Health Minister Jamsheed about the potential scope for HIV to spread beyond high-risk communities such as drug users, Lubna said greater effort was needed to address attitudes of the general public to the spread of the virus.

“I think what the health minister was saying is that it is not only people living bad lifestyles that are at risk [of HIV infection],” she said, reiterating concerns about the number of young people engaged in intravenous drug use and potentially dangerous sexual practices.

She spoke about a child who was suspected of having been infected from her mother at birth.

“We were first made aware of the case in April 2012 and as far as I know, this is the first case [of a child in the Maldives being born HIV positive],” she said. “However, I think it is important for the public to know the reality of the situation right now, whilst respecting [the child’s] privacy and well being.”

Lubna said she was ultimately encouraged by the work of the country’s health authorities in trying to address the HIV risk from national attitudes towards sex and drug use in the country, yet warned against complacency.

“This doesn’t mean that we continue to work at this pace to try and address attitudes towards AIDS and its spread,” she said.

Lubna called on civil society, the business community and government to speed up efforts to hold awareness and education events about the dangers posed through unprotected sex and intravenous drug use, and to promote preventative measures to reduce the national HIV risk.

Attempts have been made to work with local drug NGOs such as Male’-based Journey on running special outreach programs and blood tests to try and monitor and manage infection rates.

However Lubna said that drug use was not the only area of concern in trying to curb HIV infection.

“Prostitution is another area that needs to be looked into. Awareness work in this area needs to be seen immediately,” she said.

She said greater awareness was needed not just among the general public, but by government authorities and law enforcement agencies.

First Lady’s concerns

During the NDA workshop, First Lady Ilham Hussain stressed that growing numbers of the country’s youth were subjected to dangerous habits that could potentially lead to HIV infection.  She highlighted recreational drug use in particular as the leading cause of the virus spreading nationally.

“Incredible luck”

Speaking earlier this year on the issue of HIV infection rates, Health Minister Jamsheed said that although the Maldives had remained on the HIV less-prevalent category since the first HIV positive case was found in 1991, “all the habits that may lead to the spread of HIV is excessively in practice here,” stating that it was only through “incredible luck” that the disease had not already spread widely throughout the country.

“What has always worried me most is that there is a large drug community, and that the virus might find its way into this group, especially the IV drug users. Once it does, it will spread like wild fire,” he said at the time.

“I don’t think this is too far off now. We have already identified one IV drug user who has been infected with HIV. What’s left is to see how much this has spread,” Jamsheed revealed.

Jamsheed said that he believed there were issues which needed to be opened to a “national debate” in order to move forward and take stronger preventive measures.

“We can simply stay inactive and keep talking for any amount of time by assuming the moral highground,’ Jamsheed said at Sunday’s press conference.

“That is to claim that we are Muslims, and by living in a Muslim state in Muslim ways we are doubtless protected from this disease. But that is never the reality anywhere in the world,” he said.

Jamsheed said it was unrealistic to assume all Muslims to live as “perfect Muslims”, and that even if they were, there was still a chance of infection. He stated that HIV is not transferred through sexual activity or visits to prostitutes alone.

In 2011, a total of 18 HIV positive cases were reported, out of which one was of a local. Between 1991 and 2011, 15 HIV cases were reported among Maldivians, while 168 cases of expatriate workers were also filed. Two out of the 15 cases were female, and all patients cited heterosexual transmission as the cause of infection.

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Police start investigation after teenage girl found with eyes glued shut

Police have opened an investigation into an incident involving a 17 year-old girl who was held down and had her eyes glued shut on the island of Maduvvari in Raa Atoll.

While the Maldives Police Service has confirmed the incident occurred, it was not supplying further details on the case.

However the island council of confirmed to local media that the girl was found with her eyes sealed with a substance believed to be a strong adhesive at about 8:45pm last night. According to reports, the council said the girl was found abandoned on an uninhabited part of the island.

The council also confirmed that the 17 year-old was unconscious when she was found. She was taken to the island health centre on discovery.

When interviewed by the press, the girl’s family alleged that a group of islanders were responsible for incident, which had left her eyes potentially seriously injured.

Doctors were not able to ascertain the extent of the injuries to her eyes because she was unable to open them, her family told local media.

The girl’s family claimed that the teenager was snatched by an unidentified group while she was walking along the street, and was taken to an uninhabited house in the island.

Once inside, one of her abductors was said to have hit her over the head with a wooden stick. She was then allegedly held down and glue was put in her eyes.

Maduvvari Council President Hussain Shiham told local media that once she had regained consciousness the girl had claimed she was attacked “by a man with long hair, and that he would have her teeth marks on his hand. But she couldn’t tell what he looked like.”

The victim was first taken to Ungoofaaru Hospital in Raa Atoll and later transferred to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’.

Similar incidents were reported to have happened on the same island in 2005.

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