Tag: child abuse

Seventy-eight year-old man arrested for abusing 12 year old disabled girl

A 78 year-old man has been arrested for allegedly abusing a 12 year-old disabled girl last Friday on the island of Inguraidhoo in Raa Atoll.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that an elderly man was arrested in connection with a child abuse case in Inguraidhoo.

”We can’t provide further information regarding the case,” he said.

An islander familiar with the matter alleged that the girl’s mother sold her to the old man, “because the girl is a disabled girl and she cannot even attend to school,” he said.

”The islanders say that her mother gave her to the old man for some amount of money. Both of them were taken to Inguraidhoo police station, and police have now released her mother.”

He said the old man was not a man from the island but said he used to visit Inguraidhoo.

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Police arrest man abusing 10 year old girl

Police have arrested a man in the act of sexually abusing a 10 year-old girl in Hithadhoo, reports Haveeru.

Haveeru reported that police heard a girl crying while they were patrolling in the area. The man was arrested at the scene.

This was the sixth child abuse case to occur in Hithadhoo, Haveeru noted.

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Father arrested for abusing 16 year old daughter

A 40 year-old man suspected of sexually abusing his 16 year old daughter in North Ari Atoll has been arrested, confirmed Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

Shiyam said the case was ongoing and declined to provide further information.

However, a woman familiar with the matter claimed that the man has been abusing his daughter since she was nine years old.

”She was told by her dad that it was something daughters should do with Dads and she should not tell anybody,” the woman claimed. ”Nobody was aware that this was happening,”

The man had denied the claims, the woman noted.

”When his wife [suspected the abuse] and asked him if it was happening, the man shouted at her rudely,” the woman said. ”But now he has admitted to police that he has been doing it for a long time.”

She said the abuse was reported to the police by the girl’s boyfriend, after she received a call from her father and put it on conference mode.

”Her boyfriend was listening to the call when her Dad asked his daughter whether she finished menstruating and to come to him when she was done,” she said. ”Her boyfriend then informed the police.”

Last week a 53-year-old man suspected of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in Addu Atoll Hithadhoo was arrested.

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Comment: A national emergency

Minivan News on Sunday: a 13 year old girl is being abused by her own father.

Another child abuse story. Another day. Did I notice anyone raise an eyebrow?

The children of this country are being sexually assaulted and abused by people they know and trust. This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the regular appearance of news articles and stories about the abuse of children in our communities.

This happens all the time. It is becoming quite ‘normal’ now. In fact, there is evidence to support this.

The Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences published in 2007 by the then Ministry of Gender and Family found that “girl child sexual abuse was most often a repeated form of abuse rather than a once off occurrence”.

The study also found that “male family members (other than fathers and step-fathers) and… male acquaintances were identified as the most common perpetrators of girl child sexual abuse”.

Most damningly, the study found that “overall, one in three women aged 15-49 reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives, including childhood sexual abuse”.

Another story, a different day.

Hundreds of liquor licenses allow the expatriate community to indulge themselves in the supposed pleasures of alcohol. A steadily increasing community of foreign workers have been indulging in such pleasures in our homes and communities for decades, quite legally.

The People’s Majlis passes a bill which attempts to control the distribution and consumption of alcohol. It would also stop the consumption of alcohol in our homes, which are rented by expatriates who have these liquor licenses.

Uproar ensues following the passage of the bill. Our airwaves are filled with news of protests and the constant reportage makes the whole issue akin to a national emergency. The horror of such a move by the government!

A group of allegedly devout men and women threaten to destabilise the country by toppling the government if the bill were to come into force. Communities are outraged and will not allow this to happen because alcohol is ‘haraam’.

Meanwhile, the lives of unknown numbers of vulnerable children continue being quietly destroyed behind closed doors, often by the very people who are responsible for their welfare and protection.

The community does not protest. It seems to be a non-issue for them. They do not condemn such behaviour or threaten to overthrow the government in fits of outrage. In fact, the community is silent.

The brutal treatment of children is clearly not a concern in this society. But the sale of alcohol to non-muslims sends our communities and media into uncontrollable convulsions.

What does this say about our society? What does this say about our priorities?

When the controlled sale of alcohol to non-muslims becomes a bigger issue than the destruction of our childrens’ futures due to sexual abuse and violence, is it not time to reflect on the madness and incoherence of the value system of this society?

Let us not look around for someone to blame. Let us consider and reflect upon our own failure to address this silent national emergency.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Thirteen year old abused by father in Shaviyani Atoll

Police and the Ministry of Health and Family are investigating a man who allegedly sexually abused his 13 year old daughter on the island of Fokaidhu in Shaviyani Atoll, after luring her to a room with Milo packets.

An official from the island office said the case was reported to the island office on Thursday morning at 11:00pm. He said the man was summoned to the island office by police but was released after questioning.

The official claimed that the case came to the attention of authorities after she confided in someone she knew about the abuse, which was then passed to the island offices by two other youths.

The Family and Children Service took the girl into state protection the same day the case was reported, the official said.

Head of the Family and Children Service Centre Abdul Zaeem refused to comment on the case. Senior Social Service Officer from the Ministry of Health and Family Fathimath Runa said ”if a case like this was reported to us, we would investigate it with the police.”

Police Sergeant Abdul Muhsin confirmed the case was reported to police but ”could not give any details.”

Head of Shaviyani Atoll Police Station Ijlal also refused to provide information ”as the investigation is ongoing,” but noted it was the fourth child-related case reported to the station this year.

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Man arrested for child abuse and attempting to rape his mother

A 28 year old man from the island of Kolamaafushi in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll was arrested by police for allegedly abusing an eight year old boy on Friday and later trying to rape his own mother that evening.

Police Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that a man from Kolamaafushi had been arrested in connection with the two crimes but said at the moment police were unable to provide further details as the case was under investigation.

Police atoll commander for Gaafu Dhaalu atoll, Ali Mustafa, said the man was arrested last night around 10:30pm and had a recent record of child abuse. Mustafa said police discovered the man hiding on the beach of Kolamaafushi.

An official from the island office reported the man to police after he was called to the house in the course of his duties and discovered him lying on a bed naked with the child, watching TV.

Before he was arrested by police the man attempted to sexually assault his mother, the official said.

The woman jumped out a window and escaped to a nearby house, pursued by her son.

”[He] ran after her naked and tried to enter that house,” the official said, ”but a man from the house protected the woman.”

The neighbour was injured in a scuffle with the man, he said, while the woman suffered scratches to her neck.

Deputy Minister for Health and Family Mariya Ali said the ministry had received a report of one of the two incidents “but ‘would not like to mention which one.”

”These types of cases been occurring for a long time,” she said, ”but people have been very hesitant to inform [the authorities].”

She said to prevent such incidents from happening the ministry needed the help of the community.

”In every case there is someone from the community who know about it,” she said.

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Four children taken to hospital in “very serious” child abuse case

Police and the Ministry of Health and Family have confirmed they are concurrently investigating a “very serious” case of child abuse.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed a number of children had been taken to hospital, but did not divulge further details.

Minivan News understands four children were taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) by ministry workers yesterday to undergo medical examination following allegations.

Inspector Mirufath Faiz, head of the family and child protection unit, said the children had suffered from physical abuse and neglect. She explained authorities were withholding all information for the sake of the investigation.

“There are so many things we need to find out,” she said. “When we have more information that we can share, we will share it.”

Deputy Minister of Health and Family Mariya Ali said all details are being withheld for the protection of the children.

“We have the childrens’ best interest in mind, and that means we cannot give out any information that might put them in danger,” she said.

Mohamed Shihaab of Child Abuse Watch Maldives said he understood the authorities’ fear that evidence would be corrupted, or that the families of the abused children would suffer more if their identities are known.

“There is no need to disclose the identities of the children or their families, but the incident needs to be reported. It’s important that the community knows if something like this is happening,” he said.

Shihaab said he believed people are not reporting incidents for several reasons, one of them being the lack of confidentiality for the victims. The other is the need to provide witnesses so an abuse case is taken seriously.

“People need to know that justice will be carried out,” he says. “If they do not have enough evidence, their case could be dismissed.”

IGMH has not commented on, or confirmed, the case.

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Increase in cases reported to family and children service

The Family and Children service in Baa Atoll has reported that the number of cases submitted this year has more than doubled.

According to TVM, the centre reported it had received 46 cases this year compared with 21 cases last year, 42 of which were related to the abuse of children.

The centre claimed the increase was due to the effectiveness of their awareness campaigns.

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Childline inundated with calls in first month

The Maldives’ new children’s helpline has been inundated with calls despite only being launched in mid-November, on the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“We haven’t even started advocacy work and already we’ve received 400 calls in the first month,” said Munzir Ismail, consultant at the Department of Family and Gender. The Child Helpline call centre had been expecting around 270 calls.

Half the calls were requests for information, guidelines and procedures while 37 provided information leading to cases, 15 involving sexual abuse. Four of those calls were made by children themselves, three to report sexual abuse.

“This is the first time [the department] has received any cases from a child,” Munzir said. “Before the helpline we were notified by letters, government agencies and especially the police. But there’s never been a case reported by a child.

One call involved a child ringing up “to say she had been exposed to a lot of sexual abuse in a house and her parents had moved her for her studies. She had told her parents but nothing was done.”

The girl was relocated with a guardian, he said.

“I wasn’t expecting kids to call in the first month, but feedback from them has been that they think this is a good service. There is a lot of harassment in some households, physical and emotional, and for some children it can seem like the end of the road,” he explained.

Interestingly, almost 60 per cent of the calls were made from the atolls. 18 were prank calls while 14 had been silent, Munzir said, suggesting that perhaps children “were being hesitant.”

The social workers tasked with responding to the calls were mindful of making visits that would place the child in a position they might not want to be in at home, he said.

“We try to establish regular contact with the child if counsellors are required.”

The next step for the project was establishing advocacy programs and conducting awareness campaigns and workshops in the atolls on subjects like rights and sexual abuse, Munzir said.

“The Child Helpline is currently operating as a referral and intervention service, and while we have been using departmental counsellors we don’t have the capacity to offer a counselling service,” he added. “We are hoping to work with NGOs to operate the call centre and expand the service, and we’re willing to offer training.”

The toll free Child Helpline number is 1412

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