Police have arrested two men after a 15-year-old girl was raped on the island of Hulhumalé.
Local media outlet Haveeru reported that the girl was raped by a gang of four men, two of whom are still being sought after by police.
Police have confirmed that the two men arrested – aged 21 and 29 – are linked to this case. Hulhumalé police station and the Family and Child Protection Department is investigating the case.
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(0)Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed has left to Malaysia to participate in the third conference of the International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA) – the association’s fourth council meeting, and sixth executive board meeting.
According to the official police website, the conference will be held from April 21 to 24 in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. The theme of the conference is ‘Development of Teaching Staff in Police Academies’.
INTERPA has a wide membership, including police academies from Europe, Africa, North America, South America, the Middle East and Asia.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have arrested two individuals from the island of Dhaandhoo in Gaafu Alif in two separate cases concerning the possession of narcotics.
According to the police website, the arrestees are two local men aged 41 years and 37 years.
The 41-year-old was arrested on Saturday afternoon. While the investigation is pending, police have stated that they found rubber packets containing what they suspect to be illegal drugs in the man’s trouser pockets.
The 37-year-old man was arrested on the evening of the same day. He was found to be in possession of two packets containing what is suspected to be illegal drugs.
Police further stated that they are conducting a series of operations in the island of Dhaandhoo to further uncover cases of drug abuse and possession.
(0)Dislikes(0)Under an initiative of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to categorise food products produced in the Maldives as ‘halal’, three companies have on Sunday been awarded the first ‘Halal certificates’.
After research into the manufacturing process, the Islamic Ministry today awarded five products of Felivaru Fisheries, 12 products of Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), and three products of Horizon Fisheries with the certificate.
The certificates were awarded by Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed at a ceremony held in the Islamic Ministry on Sunday.
The new policy represents the government’s attempts to find alternative fish export markets, including the middle-eastern and the Malaysian market, after withdrawing its application for European Union (EU) duty-free status of imported fish from the country.
Last November, the EU declined to extend the duty-free status on Maldivian fish exports under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program – a non-reciprocal trade agreement extended to developing countries – as the government had not ratified all 27 required international conventions.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Abdulla Yameen has on Sunday appointed Dr Azeema Adam to the post of Governor at central bank Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).
Dr Azeema received parliamentary approval last week after being nominated in February.
Azeema was previously filling the post of assistant governor and chief economist, monetary policy and statistics at the monetary authority, having worked there from May 1991.
She holds a PhD in Economics from Australian University of Canberra and a Masters Degree in International Development and Finance from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives Military Veterans (MALVETS) – registered on April 18 to mark the anniversary of Maldives National Defence Force – has held its first executive meeting on Saturday.
The meeting was chaired by MALVETS Commander Major General (Retired) Mohamed Zahir and took place at Bandos Island Resort.
According to the official MNDF website, members of MALVETS held discussions on how to lay a strong foundation for the association, how to increase membership, as well as planning ways to establish easier means of communication between members and a website for the association.
(0)Dislikes(0)Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate for Feydhoo constituency Mohamed Nihad – who lost the election to Progressive Party of Maldives candidate Ibrahim Didi – has today told the High Court that his opponent used black magic to win the election.
According to local media present at the High Court hearing held Thursday, the MDP candidate claimed that Didi buried coconuts that were suspected to be cursed by using black magic, in different areas of Feydhoo.
Nihad also alleged that the same type of cursed coconuts were buried inside his house and near to the polling station.
He also alleged that Didi went near the polling station during voting hours and campaigned there.
Nihad told the High Court that Ibrahim Didi had bribed people and campaigned after official hours, and that he had filed complaints with the anti-corruption and elections commissions without receiving a response.
Elections Commission lawyer Hussein Siraj told the court that first it should be determined whether the coconut was really cursed or not and to what extent the curse had affected the result of the election.
Ibrahim Didi’s lawyer also spoke in the court and denied all the charges, claiming that Nihad was attempting to destroy his good name.
(2)Dislikes(0)The Auditor General’s Office has revealed a list of government institutions that did not submit the annual report as stated in the Finance Act.
The full list was published on Auditor General’s Office website and it states that this information had been forwarded to President and Speaker of parliament as stipulated in Finance Act 36(b).
The list includes High Court, Criminal Court, Family Court, Juvenile Court, Elections Commission, Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, Anti-Corruption Commission, Prosecutor General’s Office, Police Integrity Commission, Maldives Pension Administrative Office, Employment Tribunal, Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, Maldives Broadcasting Commission, Tax Appeal Tribunal, and the Maldives National Defence Force.
(0)Dislikes(0)Representatives of the Maldivian government have requested assistance from India’s Jamia Millia Islamia University in setting up an Islamic University in the country, reports Indian media.
The Business Standard reports that a delegation from the Islamic Ministry, led by Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, has visited the Delhi-based national Islamic university.
“Highlighting the Maldives’ successful assimilation of Western education into Islam, the visiting minister underscored the need to promote Islam, which was liberal, tolerant and integrated varied influences,” reported the Business Standard.
As part of an Islamic education drive, the current government has introduced Arabic lessons to schools, promising to focus on Islamic education and the study of Quran.
The paper reported Shameem as pointing out the Maldives’ had been “immensely successful in making women equal stakeholders in the country’s affairs as was evident from the assumption of high offices by them in different walks of life.”
Following the conclusion of the country’s recent Majlis elections, both the Commonwealth and the EU observer missions noted the “extremely low numbers of female candidates,” with a total of 23 female candidates – just 5 of whom were elected.
The World Economic Forum last year reported that Maldivian women experienced relative equality in terms of health and education, they were found to be falling behind in terms of political and economic participation.
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