Tag: assault

Vnews editor suspended for assaulting female employee

Vnews editor Adam ‘Mundoo’ Haleem has been suspended for assaulting a female employee yesterday (November 9), reports local media.

Vmedia CEO Mohamed Asif ‘Mondhu’ confirmed to local media that Haleem has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.

CCTV footage of the assault surfaced on social media today appearing to show Haleem grab and shove a female employee before being restrained by others at the scene.

The female employee reportedly sought treatment at ADK hospital for minor injuries.

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Man assaulted in Malé

A young man was assaulted and seriously injured near the Usfasgandu area of Malé last night, reports local media.

A police patrol discovered the victim on the ground around 1am and took him to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Police said a group of men on motorbikes assaulted the youth and no arrests have yet been made. Local media reported that the victim was attacked with wrenches while he was working on his motorbike.

The extent of the victim’s injuries also remain unclear.

Earlier this week, two men were stabbed in a café in Malé while several violent assaults took place in the capital during the previous month.

A spate of violent assaults in the capital in August – which police said was a series of gang reprisals – saw three young men stabbed to death.

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MP’s police brutality hearing cancelled due to defendant’s absence

No additional reporting by missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan

Today’s hearing into the alleged assault of Mahchangolhi Uthuru MP Mariya Didi has been cancelled after the defendant’s failure to attend court.

Police officer Ibrahim Faisal is accused of assaulting the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP during the demonstration held on February 8, 2012, following the controversial change of power on February 7.

The MDP maintains the transfer of power to was an illegal, with the resignation of former President Nasheed having come under duress.

The hearing was cancelled today (October 12) when the accused failed to attend despite having received a summons sent to police headquarters.

The Criminal Court has rescheduled the hearing to be held on October 19. Mariya Didi confirmed to Minivan News that she has received summons from the Criminal Court to be present at the newly scheduled hearing.

Faisal has previously denied the charges against him, although another police officer has given a witness statement supporting the assault claims against Faisal.

Following the cancellation of today’s hearing, Mariya Didi held a press conference during which she expressed concern that the accused is allowed to continue working without suspension despite the serious charges lodged against him.

She said that she was worried about her safety after having appeared in court to testify against the officer.

“The man that the prosecutor general is prosecuting with evidence still remains in his position at work. And as I saw on that day, it was not just one individual police officer who assaulted me,” Mariya told the press.

“On both February 7 and 8 they attacked me as a group. Based on this, I am worried about the fact that he [Faisal] gets to stay on in his job,” she added.

Previous investigations into the events of February 8 by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives stated that the police crackdown of MDP supporters marching on February 8 was “brutal” and “without prior warning”.

An HRCM team visiting the MP while in detention after the February 8 march observed “bruises all over [Mariya’s] body and her eyes bloodied and swollen”.

In its concluding observations, the commission concluded that police officers “acted very harshly” towards the politicians “in ways that could cause physical and psychological harm” despite their having been no resistance on the part of the politicians.

Amnesty International also documented the assaults on both Mariya and fellow MDP MP Eva Abdulla in its September 2012 report titled, ‘The Other side of Paradise: A Human Rights Crisis in the Maldives’.

The Criminal Court is also separately looking into a case of alleged brutality on MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik by police officer Mohamed Waheed of RosyVilla in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Thinadhoo.

In 2013, Amnesty released a statement saying that failure to prosecute police officers accused of human rights abuses and serious failings in the justice system entrenched impunity.

Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry – established by then President Mohamed Waheed to investigate the transfer of power – had taken note of “allegations of police brutality and acts of intimidation”, calling for “investigations to proceed and to be brought to public knowledge with perpetrators held to account”.

Speaking in parliament on August 6, Attorney General Mohamed Anil stated that five cases involving four police officers accused of committing acts of brutality in February 2012 were ongoing at the Criminal Court.

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Assault victim’s leg amputated

The victim of the assault with a sharp object which occurred in Mahchangolhi last Saturday (August 23) has had his right leg amputated as a result of injuries received.

The man, identified in local media as Ahmed Aseel of Blueniyage in Thaa Atoll Thimarafushi, is currently receiving medical treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

“He was stabbed in six places, and his right leg was severely injured. Therefore we were left with no option but to amputate his right leg from the knee down. His condition is still very critical, he is even breathing with the aid of a ventilator,” local media quoted his family as saying.

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Five suspects arrested in connection with gang violence

Police arrested four suspects with drugs and weapons from a residence in the Maafanu ward of the capital Malé last night.

According to police media, police searched Maafanu Badufangige with a search warrant at around 11:00pm and took four men into custody after discovering weapons, four balaclavas, and a packet containing illicit narcotics.

A fifth male suspect was also arrested last night with weapons and drugs after searching a residence in Malé.

The suspect was taken into custody from Maafanu Azma after obtaining a search and arrest warrant.

As part of efforts to curb gang violence, police have also been questioning and frisking individuals “loitering on the streets with no purpose” both after midnight and during the day.

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Police commissioner discusses expediting cases with prosecutor general

Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed met Prosecutor General Muhthaz Muhsin this morning to discuss measures to fast-track investigation and prosecution of serious crimes following a crime wave in the capital during the past six days.

According to police media, discussions focused on expediting the investigation process with police working closely with state prosecutors to ensure that the evidence collected is sufficient to establish guilt at trial.

Senior investigating officers, senior officers in charge of operations, and members of the police executive board also participated in the meeting at the police headquarters at Iskandhar Koshi.

Muhthaz Muhsin was formerly a judge at the Criminal Court.

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Five injured in spate of street violence in Malé

Four men and a woman sustained serious injuries in four separate incidents of violence in Malé City on Monday and Tuesday, the Maldives Police Services have said.

The first incident took place near the Eid Mosque in Maafannu ward around 7:40pm. Muggers attacked a pedestrian from the back and demanded he hand over his mobile phone. The man was hit on the back of his head, police said.

Minutes later at 7:45pm, two men were attacked in Malé’s suburb Hulhumalé Island near Flat no. 60. One of the men was stabbed in the shoulder and the other was stabbed in his head, the police said.

At 8pm, two masked men on motorbikes stabbed a 23-year-old woman in the back in front of a known gang hangout at the junction of Kalhuhuraa Magu and Husnuheena Magu in Malé. The ADK Hospital in Malé said the woman had suffered serious injuries.

An 18-year-old was also stabbed in the back in Heinveiru ward of Malé at 8:40pm on Monday.

All five have been hospitalised.

Police said they do not know if the attacks were connected and declined to reveal further details.

According to the police no arrests have been made yet. However, police have confiscated a motorbike in connection with the attack on two men in Hulhumalé.

Police statistics reveal 95 incidents of assault reported in July alone. The number brings up the total number of assault cases to 697 this year. Approximately 1500 cases of assault are reported annually in the Maldives, of which a majority occur in Malé.

A 2009 study by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has identified a weak criminal justice system to be the root cause of high crime rates in the Maldives. The HRCM said delays in court processes, failure by law enforcement agencies to implement sentences and failure to prosecute drug traffickers also contribute to growing crime rates.

The study also highlighted social factors such as a housing crisis, lack of employment opportunities, and lack of entertainment facilities for young people as a driver of crime.

Approximately 43 percent of respondents in the HRCM survey said they did not feel safe in their Malé homes, while 63 percent said they do not feel safe walking alone on the streets of Malé during daylight hours.

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Man fined for attempting assault on a police officer

Ahmed Farrah of Evening Rose in Maafannu Ward of capital Malé City has been fined an amount of MVR 3000 for attempting assault on a police officer.

The Criminal Court sentenced Farrah to pay the fine to the court within a period of 30 days.

Local media reports that he was prosecuted for attempting to assault a police officer who tried to stop him at a checkpoint in 2012.

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Man accused of assaulting a child arrested

A 37-year-old man has been arrested from the island of Dhevvadhoo in Gaaf Dhaalu atoll on charges of assaulting a minor of 13 years.

According to Dhevvadhoo Island Council, the man assaulted the 13-year-old after his son accused him of spitting on him during a fight. They quoted eyewitnesses as saying the man took the boy by the throat and threw him on to the ground.

While the boy was released from hospital after immediate medical attention, he suffered from a ‘seizure’ and lost consciousness on the following day. He was then taken to Thinadhoo Hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.

He is now being transferred to Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in capital Malé City for further treatment.

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