High Court upholds lower court’s ruling to reinstate officer accused of rape

The High Court has upheld a Civil Court ruling to reinstate Police Lance Corporal Ali Nasheed to active duty, after he was accused of raping a young woman after abducting her in a police car in August 2010.

The High Court ruled there was not enough evidence to prove that Ali Nasheed was guilty of the crime and determined that he could only be relieved of duty if there was enough evidence to prove him guilty.

The state was unable to prove with the police investigation that Ali Nasheed was guilty of the crime, the court stated.

The High Court ruling stated that Ali Nasheed was dismissed by the Police Disciplinary Committee after allegedly violating the Police Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics.

The only evidence submitted to the court against Ali Nasheed was the call log of his cell phone on the night of the incident, and the areas in which the cell phone had been used that night. Those areas were related to the incident, the court was told.

The High Court noted that Nasheed had told the lower court that he was sleeping at the time of the incident and that his brother went out with his cell phone that night, and that he had nothing to do with the call log. Nasheed produced his brother to the court who confessed that he was the one who went out with Nasheed’s mobile phone.

The High Court said that when the Disciplinary Board investigated the case they did not obtain fingerprint evidence or DNA evidence from the police car S5241 that was alleged to be involved in the incident.

There was no evidence provided to the court to prove that Nasheed had met with or contacted the woman who was allegedly raped, the court stated.

Police Chief Inspector Risheef Thoha and Former ‘Mr Maldives’ Police Constable Husham Hameed alleged of being involved and playing a significant role in the incident.

The Police Disciplinary Committee relieved the officers of duty but the cases were then appealed at the Civil Court.

The Civil Court ruled that there was enough evidence to prove Police Chief Inspector Risheef Thoha guilty of the crime and upheld the Disciplinary Committee’s decision.

However, in August this year, the High Court overruled the decision made by the Civil Court and ordered that police reinstate his duties at the rank of Chief Inspector.

In August 2011 a close friend of the alleged victim told Minivan News the incident had occurred near the Seahouse restaurant in Henveiru.

“She would not be older than 22 years, she was friends with the police inspector,’’ the source said. “According to what she told me, she was partying with a group of four police officers, including a senior inspector, and they were all drunk.’’

He alleged that the incident occurred inside a police car.

“She said they threw her onto the street after sexually abusing her,’’ the source added.

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