DNA testing has revealed that a 37 year-old man impregnated a 11 year-old girl in the Feydhoo ward of Addu City, police have said, after concluding investigation of a case that prompted shock and public outrage last month.
The 11 year-old victim in Seenu Feydhoo gave birth two months prematurely on November 1 after being taken to hospital complaining of stomach pains.
The infant died in the early hours of the following morning (November 2).
On November 4, police confirmed that a 37 year-old male suspect had been taken into custody in connection to the case.
In a press briefing on Thursday, Inspector Hassan Shifau, acting head of the Family and Child Protection Department, explained that DNA samples from the infant matched the 37 year-old suspect, Mohamed Javid of Maradhoo-Feydhoo Gulfamge.
Shifau said police obtained DNA samples from all males in the household of the 11 year-old victim.
Javid was a friend of the girl’s parents and visited the house every night, Shifau explained.
Police discovered during the investigation that Javid had been sexually abusing the victim since early 2012, he added.
The second suspect, Adam Saeed, 45, had been living in the girl’s house. Both suspects had previously been arrested on drug-related charges.
The victim meanwhile told police that she did not tell anyone about the abuse she suffered.
Family members and school mates questioned during the investigation said they were unaware that the girl was pregnant as it did not show on her body.
The girl was said to be of a “quiet” and reserved nature.
An official from the Feydhoo health centre told local media last month that “the girl admitted that she got pregnant after someone had sexually molested her.”
In the press briefing, Inspector Shifau appealed to parents to have a closer relationship with their children to ensure that they would be able to share accounts of abuse.
Upon conclusion of the investigation by a team of the Family and Child Protection Department working with the Seenu Gan police station, Shifau said police were in the process of forwarding the case for prosecution.
Child abuse in the Maldives
The case of the 11 year-old giving birth prompted a wider public debate on child sexual abuse in the Maldives, while politicians and NGOs called for a swift investigation.
Speaking to Minivan News at the time, Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed labelled it “a very big crime,” adding that the young girl should not herself take any blame or punishment.
“Personally I can’t say any word to punish a small girl in grade six. This may be a rape or sexual abuse case,” he said.
Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Rozaina Adam said the case was “unacceptable” and “shocking”, demanding on social media that police make the case a high priority.
“An 11 year-old doesn’t get pregnant by herself! This is child abuse we are talking about here n authorities need to find out who is responsible,” she wrote on Twitter.
However, Ali Rameez, a famous singer who gave up music and now heads the Islamic NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf, tweeted: “All you people who claim to be Muslims! In Allah’s Shariah [law], a child grows up when he or she reaches puberty. Not when they turn 16, 18, 25.”
Rameez, who also hosts a religious program on private radio station SunFM, tweeted earlier that he was “not aware that children could get pregnant.”
The comments were criticised by some social media users including former Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam, who tweeted: “Where are the children’s right groups… Where is HRCM.. Horrified with the preaching of people like Ali Rameez.”
Local NGO Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) meanwhile issued a statement calling on the government, civil society organisations and the general public to step up efforts to combat child abuse in society.
“It is an obligation for us as responsible citizens to protect our children, and it is the Maldivian government’s obligation as a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) that all international commitments to protect the rights of all children are adhered to fully,” ARC noted.
Almost one in seven children of secondary school age in the Maldives have been sexually abused at some time in their lives, according to an unpublished 2009 study on violence against minors.
Rates of sexual abuse for girls are almost twice as high than for boys at 20 percent – one in five girls have been sexually abused – while the figure for boys was 11 percent. Girls are particularly at risk in the capital Male’, the report found.
In recent years, local authorities and NGOs have released a number of findings trying to detail the extent of child abuse and wider sexual assaults within society.
The state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital’s (IGMH’s) Family Protection Unit reported in 2010 that the centre was notified of 42 cases of rape between 2005-2010. Most of these cases were found to involve minors.
According to the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, 13 rape cases were reported last year alone, the majority of which most were gang rapes or assaults involving minors.
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Hope justice must be done to these two fornicaters n that we don't listen to fools who keep sayin it is a child so it can't be punished. Lack of punishment being done is why zina is so high among our young ppls.
Wait. Musaa Shuaib wants the child to punished as well for 'fornication'?
People like Ali Rameez and the wahhabi population in general, are a cancer to humanity. The only way to get rid of them is to use a high dose of radiation, which the western powers are currently hesitant on doing.
What happened to Imran who speaks a lot when something is happening to Maldivians
Oh Javid must be his financier
@musaa shuaib I wonder if you would have the same opinion if u had a daughter and she was abused and impregnanted by ur friend??!!!
Plz Don't preach Islam as if it's a religion where there is no justice!...
ISLAM is the BEST! and becoz of people like you, the world thinks differently!
the only solution is to be muslims and to implement its laws...
@wives and concubines
I ****ing hate you and what you stand for, BUT.. your are completely right this time,
They are filth
@Musaa Shuaib
That is an admirable goal!
yawn.....It is hardly surprising. Maldives is dotted with Pedophiles and there is no law which will bring justice to the offender. What about the other unreported cases? What about the cases where the victim is not getting pregnant....?
@Damn
What exactly do you think I 'stand' for?
No doubt that both these sick men should be punished and they should not be released on parole either! And where the hell were the girl's family members when the girl was being abused all the time? How can anyone leave an 11 year old girl unsupervised? The family also need to be charged for neglect! An 11 year old should have been better taken care of!!
Ali rameez- does this guy think he is a prophet or someone? And why are so many ppl listening to this a55hole? Does he think he will get a pbuh in brackets after his name? All these bloody mullas need to be put to the gas chamber
It seems religion (whatever it is) is not protecting the weak against the wrath and the deviances from the "strong" ... such a pity to see this.. A VERY harsh treatment should be passed on to the pepetrators, and those who advocates those God-forsaken pratice
@wives
The whole cultural superiority of the west, they are where they are standing on the corpses of natives of smaller nations,
aborigines, native americans, current multiple wars in the middle east, supporting saudi and the real birth of radicalism in the 1910's. Ottomans were fairly liberal and this radicalism/wa-habism is their mess
There have been complaints from islanders about Ali Rameez visiting islands with the said to be a Sheikh, Imran.
On one of these visits, an islander asks Rameez about a particular matter in islam. Ali Rameez gives his fatwa. The islander says Rameez is not right. The Holy Quran according to what he has read says so and so. Rameez does not agree.
Hearing their disagreement, Imran comes to the scene, corrects Rameez and confirms with the islander say!
The minute someone disagree with their ideology, the person becomes an enemy of Islam and thus deserve to be beheaded!
This to my belief is not what Islam is all about! However:
These two people should be made to understand what shame and what right the child here has.
They should be given the due punishment they deserve!
So far, with my 9 months stay here in the Maldives. I have heard so many stories of molestation and sexual abuse to the children and women, even forgotten rape cases. Some, because of shame decided to keep their silence, while some were ignored by the society and even more of their own family…
Walking around the very small city of Male, it is very common to experience the lusty looks from the eyes of local men and even teenagers hanging out on the streets. Most of them are very bold and confident to hit on women, using very foul words and indecent proposals.
Can you imagine, such a small city populated with such kind of people? Victims are not only locals, but expats too are being targeted. As these cases has been going on for a long time, passing from one generation to another, not only in the city but also in the islands of Maldives, I am deeply sad of the situation of the children and women of this country.
Maldives as a 100% Islamic country, I earnestly hope the government will focus more into these cases. Ensure the safety and protection of their people. Look after the welfare of women and secure a better future for their children…
Each and every individual has their personal and social responsibility to act on this. Even more the country is also facing a threat that may lead to the countries’ disappearance on the map. Not tomorrow but NOW - people should ACT on this before it’s too LATE.
@evida-well said!