Police are investigating the suspicious death of a two-day old healthy newborn at the ADK hospital on Tuesday, Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef has confirmed.
According to the Haneef, the investigation commenced after police discovered the baby boy’s mother had been married three months before the delivery, suggesting that the baby was conceived before the marriage.
“There are some suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the baby. We have found out the mother was married just three months before the baby was born,” Haneef noted.
Speaking to Minivan News, Managing Director of ADK hospital, Ahmed Afaal, said doctors who examined the boy has declared it was “sudden death” as the boy was born perfectly healthy and had no complications.
Afaal said the real cause of death cannot be identified without an autopsy in sudden death cases.
He noted that the boy had died while under the care of mother, who is reportedly from Nilandhoo in Gaaf Alif Atoll.
Newborns are not admitted to the nursery and transferred under family care if no complications are found, he added.
“The hospital staff were alerted by the family on Tuesday morning after the boy was found not breathing. The staff examined the body and declared the boy was dead,” according Afaal.
Meanwhile, local media Haveeru has quoted an unidentified official from ADK saying that the “doctors assume the baby had died of choking but that they couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause of death without carrying out an autopsy”.
Haveeru quoted another police media official saying “the boy had an identical bruise to the sides of his nose” and had claimed their journalists had observed the bruise.
However, both Afaal and Sub-Inspector Haneef did not confirm any physical injuries and added they cannot comment further as the investigation is pending.
However Haneef added that the police so far believe that the death was “normal”.
Stigma
Under the form of sharia law practiced in the Maldives, both sex before marriage and adultery are offences punishable by flogging. But attitudes towards sex reveal a discrepancy. While it is acknowledged in private that both take place, social norms and cultural attitudes restrict public discussions on the subject. As a result, students are not taught about contraception at school as for many this would be tantamount to condoning sex outside of marriage.
While premarital and extramarital sex is widespread, high rates of divorce and remarriage (including sex between marriages), and poor access and practice of contraception lead to a high number of unwanted pregnancies. The stigma of having a child out of wedlock compels women and girls to opt for abortions – which is illegal in the Maldives except to save a mother’s life, or if a child suffers from a congenital defect such as thalassemia.
Subsequently, anecdotal evidence suggests some women have resorted to
The severity of the situation was signalled last year following the discovery of several dead premature babies and abandoned alive on Male’ and across islands.
The Criminal Court last year sentenced the mother of a prematurely born baby found inside a milk can in ViliMale’ on 19 May 2011 to one year imprisonment.
Aminath Shaira, 30 of Manadhoo in Noonu Atoll, was charged with disobedience to an order under article 88(a) of the 1968 penal code as well as violations under the Child Protection Act.
Her accomplice in the crime, Mariyam Rizna, 18, of Guraidhoo in Kaafu Atoll, was sentenced to six months for assisting Shaira in delivering the baby. Rizna’s fingerprints were found on the Coast Milk can.
In the same month, a dead infant was found in a plastic bag in the swimming track area of Male’. A medical examination later concluded that the baby’s had sustained cuts, bruises and other wounds. No one was arrested or charged.
Meanwhile, in June 2011 an abandoned newborn was discovered alive inside a garage on Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo island while in a similar case, a newborn was found abanded alive in bushes near the Wataniya telecommunications tower in Hulhumale’ during Novermber 2010.
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Very sad to see how religion becomes abused by laws made by humans in the name of god. It can´t be in the will of god, that innocent babies have to die, because young people have to live in a system built up of fear.
God has given us love and sexuality and the most wonderful result out of this is creating new life, how can a young woman feel forced to kill a baby, because she is fearing flogging and social exclusion! And this is called sharia law, the law of god???
Is god so narrow minded not to accept a baby, which has been conceived a couple of months before marriage, but still made with love?? Sorry, for me all this sounds very human! The urge to exert power and violence in the name of god is the real sin in these cases!
Just plain cruelty,
Welcome to the exquisite world of Arabian Islam. A place of fear, intimidation, lies, murder, rape, slavery, stoning to death, etc. all to appease an astonishingly obvious made-up god, by the insecure.
Saudi Arabia is not apparently the place where,rape,robbery,murder,sexual assaulting, teasing touching and much more unethical behavior are rampant where Sharia Law is upheld. In contrast, UK and US apparently have more such case on daily basis,despite the advanced Judi ca,Americana and Britannica Law is widely applied for their social harmony and freedom. Flogging, stoning and amputating are by Allah's Decree for those who commit capital crimes for which capital punishments await these transgressors.
A.Ahmed. Rape is pretty uncommon in Sweden, when it's commited, its usually committed by the immigrant Muslim population.
Underreporting of Crime is also common in Saudi Arabia; despite this it is very appararent that domestic abuse and spousal abuse are quite high. You see, unlike in Saudi Arabia, those who practice "Americana and Britanica law" bother to take statistics on these things.
@ Noor, you guys are working hard to convince the Maldivians and the world audience that Judi ca,Americana and Britannica Law is a system serving for the welfare of the humanity, i.e you call it " international best practice ". Shame on you!! If you know a little about William Petteson who migrated to Britain from Holland in 1694 and oversaw all arrangements of inaugurating BANK OF ENGLAND much to the discontent of the British of that time. No one knew the shareholders of the bank,save the unethical greedy crooks who made it exist. MAYER AMSCHEL BAUER who was born in Frakfert Germany in 1774 was the guy who migrated to England later and gave the bank a gloss. The so called "international laws " are formulated and laid down by those greedy bunch and of course and later their decedents. Sharia Law is for the betterment and welfare of the whole of humanity wheres the above refereed law is to amass wealth by hook or crook, but at same time ostensibly exhibiting as if they are doing favours to the poor and the developing countries
A.Ahmed, International Law is derived from Dutch thinkers, specifically Hugo Grotious. Of course, that was irrelevant to my point, but your ignorance needed to be remedied.
There was no “BRITISH” in 1694, because Britain came to be with the act of union in 1707. Though the crowns of England and Scotland had been in union since 1603. Of course, again,that was not relevant to my original point, but it’s fun to expose your ignorance.
The Bank of England has what to do with international law? Incidentally, it has been quite profitable for the English middle class, despite your claims to the contrary(Of course, again,that was not relevant to my original point, but it’s fun to expose your ignorance.)
What Sharia law is intended for and what it produces are two entirely different things. Instead of refuting my arguement that Sweden is a prosperous community, with low crime levels (well except for certain Muslim immigrants who go around raping women) – as an example of a country which does not need to resort to bronze age superstition to keep their country in line, (whereas in Saudi Arabia, under the veneer or piety, spousal rape, domestic abuse and such are quite common) you instead resorted to irrelevancies and pathetic attacks on international law.
Of course, it would also naturally escape your attention that in Saudi society women are not so much as allowed to drive!
I am sure things like living standards, public safety and economic propsperity are not as important as chastity and silly superstitions to you.
I expect you to come up with a retort filled to the brim with irrelevancies. Alternatively, I suggest you go pray now. 😉
(- Edited for syntax mistakes - please post this version instead Minivann)