Police have arrested six persons following the murder of an alleged sorcerer living on the island of Kudahuvadhoo in Dhaalu Atoll.
Two weeks ago Ali Hassan, a 76 year-old man, was found murdered with multiple stab wounds on Kudahuvadhoo.
Hassan was found knifed at an abandoned house around 8:00 pm on the evening of January 8.
A police spokesperson confirmed Minivan News that the arrests were made and that none of the suspects had so far been released.
“We are currently investigating the case and will provide details later,” he said.
A special team from the Serious and Organised Crime Department was dispatched to the island the day of the murder.
The victim had previously been accused of using sorcery on a 37 year-old woman, who was reported missing at 2:00am on December 4, 2011 and whose body was found floating in Kudahuvadhoo lagoon later that morning.
Island Council President of Kudahuvadhoo Ibrahim Fikry today told Minivan News that the islanders were all frightened after the incident.
“After the death of the woman the islanders were scared, and then this incident occurred and now the islanders are worse,” he said adding that no one walks on the roads now after the sun goes down.
“The injuries sustained were horrific,” Fikry told Minivan News at the time, claiming to have seen the body of the man.
Fikry said that the victim’s forehead was slashed and that his neck was slit. “There were deep stab wounds to the chest and back, revealing the bones. The intestines were visible from a slash to the stomach,” he recalled.
Speaking to Minivan News, an islander from Kudahuvadhoo claimed that the victim was “unpopular” in the community for his alleged practice of sorcery.
Hassan was formerly Deputy Island Chief of Gemedhoo in Dhaal Atoll, which was devastated in the 2004 tsunami. When the population resettled in Kudahuvadhoo, he was removed from the position over allegations of child abuse, said a council member.
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This is gross human rights violation. Where the famous Nav Pillay when we need her most
It is sad to see the involvement of minors in the killings.
Maldivians police their own community themselves, which is also connected to the fact that, in their traditional society, there was always a keen interest in the activities of others. This is still true to some extent today, where the government easily finds individuals who willingly inform on the behaviour of their neighbours and kin. Therefore, since there is a whole spontaneous network of tattle-
telling people all over the country, real friendships, in the sense that one would strive to protect and stand for a friend in trouble, are rare among Dhivehi people.
In the ancestral oral literature of Maldivians the fanödöitaveriya or sorcerer is always portrayed as
a hero. Only recent stories tend to cast him in the role of a villain. The reason behind this new attitude
is that increasing scholarisation and contact with the wider world has allowed educated Maldivians to
analyse and criticise, even going to the extent of ridiculing, their own local traditions. But, ironically,
they have been strictly forbidden to apply the same methods of rational enquiry to the intruding Arab doctrine.
Sorcerers?! Subhanallah! Why do such evils exist in our country! Surely, dealing with such quran-forbidden activities are much more important than arresting judges or protesting in front of MMA! I suggest the government to create a new police department which would deal exclusively with cases related to sorcery or sihuru!
My dear Muslim Maldivian brothers and non-fornicating sisters...do you forget what your Lord has said about sorcery?
"Say: I seek refuge in
the Lord of the dawn. From the evil of what He has created. And from the
evil of the utterly dark night when it comes. And from the evil of those
who blow on knots. And from the evil of the envious when he envies."
(al-Falaq: 1-5)
Within an increasingly hostile environment, there are two reasons why fanödöitaverikanô is mostly made up of secret knowledge. The first is because it has its origins in the highly secretive Tantric teachings; and the second is because its contradictions with the government-enforced Muslim
doctrine should not be exposed. Even though much maligned in recent times, sorcery is still widely practiced and, for instance, nowadays in all islands in the Maldives practically all fishermen still seek the help of fanödöita to improve their luck in the fishing grounds.
HAHA funny. Death to such scums of humanity.
Why do people still believe in such non-sense as sorcery. If it really works wonders one should wonder why the sorcerers never prosper and usually live miserable lives.
And then there's this allegation that the person so brutally murdered had caused the death of a woman through sorcery, and that the supposed sorcerer were being harassed and threatened by his would be killers.....well if sorcery has any credibility, he could have simply used it and eliminated all of 'em just like that