Concern has been raised about the delay in medical treatment given to an inmate in Maafushi jail, who died in custody yesterday.
The Director General of the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS), Mohamed Rasheed, said Hassan Ahmed, from Gan Mukuri Magu of Laamu atoll, died of a heart attack.
Rasheed said the 29 year old had been jailed for 25 years for using and selling drugs, but ”was a trusted and good man who was selected to work as jail staff.”
”We got a report at 2:00pm and our jail officers attended to him after four to five minutes,” he said, adding that Hassan was taken to the prison’s doctor immediately.
“He did not have any recorded medical conditions, and had just come back from work to pray and have lunch.”
However a source familiar with the matter told Minivan News that the jail officers only attended to the man two hours after they were informed about the incident.
The source also claimed that Hassan had informed the jail officers at 12:24pm, before noon prayers, that he had been having chest pains since breakfast, although by then it was not severe.
”But after the noon prayers his pain got more serious, so [the inmates] knocked on the gates and shouted. Police officers attended after some time, and [the inmates] told them about the man and they replied that the doctor had gone for lunch,” the source said.
”Nobody can stop a man from dying, but they could have treated him. They did not take it seriously, they even had the time to take him Male’,” he added.
He said Hassan was dead by the time the officers arrived at 2:10pm to transfer him, and criticised the DPRS and TVM for reporting that jail officers had attended “very quickly.”
Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ilham Ahmed said ”We are very disappointed that again someone died [in custody] after the death of Mohamed Nooz.”
Rumours around the circumstances of Nooz’s death sparked a protest outside MDNF headquarters and the president’s residence on 28 January.
Ilham claimed he had received information that Hassan had died after reporting a serious pain in his chest since that morning, and ”nobody cared to give him even a single paracetamol tablet.”
Ilham also said he had received information from Maafushi jail that ”the police did not follow procedure; they have to check the dead body and take photographs.”
Hassan was buried last night. Rasheed said a letter had been sent to his parents asking if they would like a post mortem examination conducted. Hassan’s family had not yet responded to the letter, Rasheed said.
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It is slightly ridiculous that the opposition party is trying to use custodial deaths to make political waves when the former administration is responsible for setting up the system that exists.
There is a constant attitude of neglect shown towards inmates, and that has to change if we are to move forward as a nation. What is the department of penitentiary services doing about this? Why do these groups keep putting out misleading press statements? And where is the police integrity commission?
This is getting to be ridiculous. People should be doing their jobs, and proper records of treatment needs to be kept so that if this accusation is untrue, it can be proven as such.
my sympathies to this inmate. But gues what About 7 years back in Male' my dad got a stroke and he was taken to a hospital in MAle and was tossed over to other one cause there was no Heart Specialist. Isn't it embarrassing to hear that he also had suffer unnecessary consequences due to the good professional services from these 2 hospitals. Now we are talking about a jailed person and I can imagine the kind of paramedics and medicare and emergency care possible in a place like that. Come on People. Are you out of your minds.
THE DPRS director General is a Maumoon Loyalist and he is creating unnecessary fuss. such a shame these people still cannot understand that its the responsibility of them cause they are in these responsible positions. Who are they trying to blame, the president!!!. they have to take blame as they are given a job and paid by the government.
Its not appropriate for these officials to say that the man died of a heart attack when there is no such medical evidence thought its a likely possible in this young man with a history of drug abuse.
when people say that these people are neglected they have to remember that we are talking about criminals here, they are not so easy to deal with as many a times they dont tell the truth and have another motives. This said I think its the personal who take care of prisioners that need to on the spot here, they have to do their responsibilities here. My fellow citizens quit make everything so political. Our country is being fragmented and destroyed while we all run around politicians ignoring the reality and dealing with the real issues.
Good day Maldives!