A group of men, including an imam, were arrested in Alif Alif atoll Maalhos on Thursday after photos and videos emerged of the seven engaged in homosexual activity.
An islander who spoke on condition of anonymity told Minivan News a group of teenagers from the island came upon the video CDs in the house of one of the suspects. When the CDs began to be circulated in public, the “island elders” alerted police.
“It came as a big shock to everyone on the island to see that [the imam] was one of them. He gives the Friday sermons at the mosque every week,” he said. “He is a well respected person on the island and we saw him as our religious leader.”
Besides the imam, the pornographic videos featured a mosque caretaker, a carpenter and another man the islanders believe to be mentally unstable, the islander claimed.
“He is a deranged person. We have always seen him running around the island naked,” he said.
Of the three men not featured in the video, two were incriminated in photos found along with the videos, he continued, while the third was believed to have filmed the pornography.
Three of the suspects were married with children, the islander said, while one of them included a second, retired imam. The youngest of the seven men was aged 27, while the rest were over 45 years of age, he said.
Miadhu reported other islanders as claiming that two of the seven men consider themselves “as husband and wife.”
Sergeant Ahmed Shiyam from the Maldives Police Service confirmed the arrests were made on Thursday following a report from the islanders. The seven men are currently in police custody. All were residents of Maalhos.
A spokesperson for the Islamic Ministry said they were not yet aware of the case and could not speculate on any measures that could be taken. Meanwhile Abdullah bin Mohamed Ibrahim, President of Islamic NGO Salaf Jamiya, also said he was unable to comment as they did not have complete information on the case.
Under the existing penal provisions, the punishment for sodomy is 19 to 39 lashes, banishment or imprisonment of up to three years.
Another islander from Maalhos who spoke to Minivan News said a group of people had become suspicious of the seven men before the videos came out.
“They have been following them around for a long time now,” he said. “They were suspicious before, and the videos just confirmed it.”
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Comment: Afrasheem, Rilwan, and the future of the Maldivian community
hehehe...y ar ppl so hactic by reading this artical. u can find much more in the best practicing US & the westen civilization cases like this ar happening every hour, POPE's are enjoying it...wht u have to do is just follow the ISLAM says kill them all.......
Please understan to be a Muslim one does'nt have to be an Arab. There is a version between Muslims and Mumin. When one addmit the oness of Allah SWT and believe in the Prophet Mohamed SAW as the last Prophet, yes he can be considered as a Muslim. But you can be a Mumin yet.
So who is a Mumin??????
“Those who offer their Salaah (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness. And those who turn away from Laghw (dirty, false, evil vein talk, falsehood and all that Allah has forbidden).
And those who pay Zakaat.
And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts from illegal sexual acts). Except from their wives or (slaves) that their right hands possess, for them, they are free from blame.
But whoever seeks beyond that, those are the transgressors.
Those who are faithfully true to their amanat (all the duties which Allah has ordained, honesty, moral responsibility and trusts) and to their covenants. And those who strictly guard their five compulsory congregational Salawat (prayer) (at their fixed hours). These are indeed the inheritors who shall inherit the firdaus (paradise). They shall dwell therein forever.”
Dear All so Please don't try to gross out our sisters and brothers on Islam.
What ever you beleive and who ever you are you might commit a sin. Doesn't mean religion is bad.
Anything reported in the news is something that is rare, be it hypocrisy in Islam or hypocrisy in Christianity. However, in this modern society, everything will be reported. Media is more powerful than the will of God, it has become this way. God will be the judge of all who turn against him, no man has that right.
Get thee behind me Satan...and put it in gently 🙂
The islanders need to rethink their past, as the Maldives and other island communities had homosexuality as long as the islands had people--and will always have. Homosexuality is genetic and is natural (it occurs in nature among all species) and is normal (it occurs regularly) and good (it stops over population). It is not a choice; it is an orientation, and it includes all races, religions, ethnicities, and so forth. The Imam is a mortal as are all others and has a right to be himself; the only error here was that he married to hide from himself and the world his real self. I fault the islanders and their lack of education and overdependence on a book written, allegedly, more than 1300 years ago--as times have changed, as has psychology and education. It is time that this issue is dropped and people accept each other as they are: self-actualization, so that each person can benefit society. Most great artists, poets, inventors, doctors, and other professions have always had homosexuals, as have all religions--it is not new.
It is absurd to deny respect to someone that you respected earlier only because he (or she) is homosexual. It is wrong to condemn another person for being mortal as you condemn yourself. It is the highest form of insanity to jail anyone because of what he or she does in his own private space and world, for all people have the right to peace and happiness. I condemn the island leaders for keeping the islanders ignorant of reality in favor of mythology and hatred. If this continues, Islam loses more face in the world and more will see it as the representative of ignorance and hate. The islanders are destroying their own religion and the islanders are guilty of crimes against humanity.
My dears Quran is the book,that guides the humanity in evey period of time,either it was 1400 years ago or now.
Just try to read and undersatand Quran..MAY ALLAH BLESS ALL OF US..
AAMEEN....