An HIV positive paedophile has been sentenced to three years in prison for having sex with two underage girls.
Twenty-six year-old Irushaad Moosa of Meemu Mulaku was arrested in August 2009 after returning home to the Maldives around four years prior after working on a Maldivian ship. He reportedly contracted the HIV virus while he was overseas.
Residents on Meemu Mulaku soon started complaining about Irushaad’s relationship with the young girls of the island.
In August 2009 he was reported to police for having sex with two girls aged between 16 and 17. The island chief told Minivan News that islanders were very concerned about Irushaad remaining loose in the community, as he had allegedly told them “I will infect others before I die.”
The prosecutor general’s office stated that although the sentence appeared lenient, it was the maximum possible as the crimes were committed before the new, tougher laws against sex offenders were passed.
Those laws, ratified in November, carry penalties of up to 25 years for sexual abuse of a minor. When serial paedophile Hussain Fazeel was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for 39 counts of child sexual abuse, it was the highest sentence for such a crime in the Maldives and widely regarded as a landmark decision for the country.
Aishath Velezinee, a human rights campaigner on the judicial service commission said the he three year sentence was the maximum under the applicable law “and I do not believe the judge has been irresponsible or lenient.”
“The fact is that the criminal act took place before the new harsher laws [were in place], and he cannot be penalised in retrospective.”
However, she said, “As there is no public sex offender registry, it is in the public’s interest for the media and civil society to report and monitor these convicts and their movements after their release, to ensure community safety. Paedophiles do not reform after a two year stint in jail.”
Asked if the island community was concerned about a criminal like Irushaad being released back into the community so soon, Hassan Zakaria, a social service officer formerly from the Meemu Mulaku said the case “was probably reported because the island community was aware of the situation.”
“I believe that there is a lower possibility of something like this happening [again] on the island.”
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Really? What kind of sick twisted ******** just wants to infect others?
This absurd! Totally unacceptable, I was hoping that after the new legislation pedophile will be punished severely. It is only three year for having sex with a minor. Also how about he intentionally infecting other with HIV doesn’t anybody regard this as a crime too? But now it is evident our courts will never take pedophiles seriously and they will be happily roaming around us and freely abusing and infecting other in one way or the other. I think it’s high time that our society to take a collective action against pedophiles that would pressure courts, judicial and government system in taking serious action for this.
Dear Minivan News editor,
please publish this, because I am saying this with disgust, anger and out of desperateness! - as an adult survivor of child sexual abuse, I sincerely want to say to the perpetrator - **** you and I will pray forever for you to remain in that cell. I hope people will realize the terrible impact this have on people, even in their adult lives. I pray to see a day people protest outside courts to ensure perpetrators of such unacceptable crimes get harsher punishments. I do not have the strength right now to fight against it, as I am still recovering from the trauma. I hope one day i will regain my strength and be able to speak out against this putting my face to my voice....
The new legislation do not apply to cases committed before ratification. However, the paedophile's intention was to kill other people so the courts could have passed a harsher sentence.
And yet we dont even get to see who the sick guy was? This should be punished with atleast 10 years because that will be like death sentence to an HIV infected person.
So sad. What about the girls? have they been tested for HIV? what if they are tested HIV positive? cant this be considered as a murder? In a way, he has given death sentence to these children and so he deservaes the same. This is just my personal opinion.
MH - Addu
This is what our society has come to. Three years and the judge was not being lenient? Couldn't the judge and the PG have added a barrage of other charges like amurah nukiyaman theri vun or similar stuff? Honestly, I don't know what to say.
Is this a joke.Failure to punish criminals have created havoc in our society.We need to implement harsh punishment to people like this.Day to day crimes are increasing and more serious crimes are occurring.
Is the judge who gave the sentence out of his mind.I wonder how the judge would have felt if some one did this to his daughter.
Human rights organization is also fighting for the rights of lunatics like this.They are more worried about rapists,murderers,gangsters,pedophiles,muggers and robbers than old people admitted in hospital who have no one to care for.They don't care about how some Maldivians treat the labors.People are pointing finger at Islam saying that the religion supports slavery.What do you call this.Shame on you guys.
hilmy is right. in other countries if someone who knows he has HIV sleeps with another person without condom it is considered murder. minivan has uncovered that this guy got wrong sentence. should be a murder sentence
100% Agreed with Rilwan.
This fellow should not get 3 years. More like Life with no possibility of parole, or simply let him die on his own.
And no, I don't wish for any person's or a human's death, but this man is not even a human!