Two men from Meedhu in Addu Atoll Meedhu have been arrested and charged with the rape of an underage girl, reports Manadhoo Live.
The online newspaper reported that police were now searching for others involved in the case.
Police would not provide further information on the incident.
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(0)A man has been arrested in Noonu Atoll for alleged sexual abuse of his 15 year-old daughter.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that a man was arrested in Noonu Atoll on charges of sexual abuse.
He said that further information could not be provided at the moment.
However, a person familiar with the matter told Minivan News that the case had been reported and the girl was being examined by police. He claimed the arrested person was the girl’s father, and that he had been charged with molestation.
The source claimed the girl’s boyfriend had secretly “gathered evidence” that the abuse was occurring before presenting it to her and assisting her in reporting it to the police.
The abuse had been occurring for some time, the source claimed.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have complained that the defence lawyer of Al-Qary Hussain Thaufeeq, a renowned reciter of the Quran who was recently arrested on multiple charges of child sex abuse, also served as the prosecution lawyer for one of Thaufeeq’s alleged victims.
Thaufeeq formerly hosted a daily Quran teaching programme on Television Maldives (TVM) for school children every evening after Isha prayers. Prior to his arrest, he also led Friday prayers and conducted sermons.
A police media official said that police would not disclose details regarding the case, but said the lawyer Abdulla Shiyaz had appeared as both Thaufeeq’s defence and as prosecution for one of the girls he allegedly molested.
Legal Officer of the Criminal Court, Mohamed Amir, said the police concerns had been presented to the Criminal Court.
“There were two defence lawyers for Thaufeeq, Abdulla Shiyaz and Ali Shah,” he said. “Police have claimed Abdulla Shiyaz appeared in court as the prosecution lawyer for an alleged victim of the accused. When the investigation is ongoing, the victim has the right to present her own lawyer if she wishes so.’’
Amir said the police investigation team have claimed that the issue could obstruct the police investigation and influence the witnesses.
‘’It is against the code of ethics of lawyers to appear as both prosecution and defence lawyer at the same case,’’ Amir noted.
However Abdulla Shiyaz told local news paper Haveeru that he denied the charges and claimed it was an attempt by police to denigrate his reputation.
He said that when he appeared in court on the victim’s side, he did not know that it was a case related to Thaufeeq.
(0)Dislikes(0)A woman has filed a case at police headquarters alleging she was sexually abused last Thursday by a group of people, including a chief inspector.
Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed the case had been filed and that police were now investigating the matter.
“The person accused denies the charges,” he said. “She alleged there was also a police chief inspector included in the group she claimed had sexually abused her.”
He declined to give further information on the case, saying police would disclose more information once the investigation was concluded.
A close friend of the alleged victim told Minivan News the incident occurred near Seahouse restaurant in Henveiru.
“She would not be older than 22 years, she was friends with the police inspector,’’ he said. “According to what she told me, she was partying with a group of four police officers, including a senior inspector, and they were all drunk.’’
He alleged that the incident occurred inside a police car.
“She said they threw her onto the street after sexually abusing her,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, local newspaper Haveeru reported that a group of people had burned the motorbike of the police inspector in an arson attack.
(0)Dislikes(0)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.
(0)Dislikes(0)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.
(0)Dislikes(0)A 53-year-old man suspected of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in Addu Atoll Hithadhoo was arrested today.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that the suspect was taken into custody after the case was reported to the police.
Shiyam declined to divulge further information regarding the case.
Local daily Haveeru reported today that the girl had a mental disorder.
Ahmed Mohamed, head of Hithadhoo Regional Hospital, also confirmed the incident occurred, ”but we do not have further information on the case,” he said.
Both the health ministry’s child and family protection unit and the Hithadhoo councillor also declined to provide any information.
Meanwhile, an employee at the hospital confirmed that the girl was brought to the hospital to get a medical report.
The hospital staff member claimed the suspect was an employee at the hospital.
”He is a man from Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll,” he said. ”It happened in another district so we also do not know much about the case.”
(0)Dislikes(0)A group of 15 men abducted, drugged and gang raped a 20 year old girl on the island of Hithadhu in Seenu Atoll last Friday night, while reportedly filming the incident wit a mobile phone.
Regional commander for Addu Atoll, Chief Inspector Hussein Adam, said three men had been arrested in connection with the attack, which occurred around 8:30pm on Friday night.
”Two men came by on a motorbike while she was outside her house, and forced her to sit between them,” Hussein said.
The two men took her to an uninhabited area on the island, 30 minutes walking distance from where she was abducted.
”The 15 men forced her to drink a suspected liquid drug and she became drunk,” Hussein said. ”They used box cutters to threaten her.”
Atoll Commander for Addu Adam Niyaz said police were informed of the incident at 1:00am on Saturday morning by the girl’s parents, after she returned home.
Police took the girl to Addu Regional Hospital. Hussein noted that she was “unable to walk.”
Head of Addu Regional Hospital Ahmed Mohamed said the girl was brought to the hospital on Saturday was discharged yesterday.
”There were no injuries outside her body,” Ahmed said, ”but as she was sexually assaulted by 15 men her sex organs were injured during the incident.”
Niyaz said the three men arrested in connection with attack had many police records involving drug offences and gang-related crimes.
He said Hithadhu police station was continuing to investigate the case.
(0)Dislikes(0)A coalition of NGOs have condemned the performance of the judiciary and the State for its treatment of criminal cases, especially those concerning rape.
Maldivian Detainee Network, Trasparency Maldives, Rights for All, Maldives Aid, Madulu, Democracy House, Maldives NGO Federation and Strength of Society issued a statement “condemning the increase in serious crime and the failure of the state and responsible authorities to convict those responsible for these crimes.”
The statement referred to statistics on crimes such as murder, child abuse, assault with sharp weapons, and threats to journalists and others in the media, comparing these with the number of crimes investigated by police, the number sent to the Prosecutor General’s office and the number tried in the Criminal Court.
The NGOs said the blame for the “failure to deliver justice” should not be placed on the new democratic system or human rights safeguards, “but rather [on] the unsatisfactory implementation of these systems and safeguards.”
They “note with great concern that there is not a single case of ‘rape’ in the statistics maintained by either the PG or the Criminal Court.”
Technical misunderstanding
Information provided by the Maldives Police Service (MPS) to Transparency Maldives states that in 2009 ten cases of rape were reported to police, eight of which were investigated and five sent to the Prosecutor General (PG)’s office.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said in the instance of these rape cases, the three that had been labelled as ‘finished’ by police but were not sent to the PG were still “being checked” by police before being sent to the PG’s office.
“Sometimes we check and update information,” Shiyam said, “and there could be other documents being collected.”
Information gathered by the coalition of NGOs from the Criminal Court show zero cases under ‘rape’ were prosecuted in 2008 and 2009.
But Senior Judge at the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed said the Criminal Court had processed six cases of rape during the year.
Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem said the discrepancy was “a misunderstanding of technical terms.”
“If consent is lacking, regardless of whether or not there was intercourse, the case would fall under sexual misconduct,” he said.
Shameem said when the PG’s office received cases from the police, they decided whether or not to prosecute it depending on the evidence.
He added that the statistics from the police might “not give a clear idea” of the number of cases, as the PG’s office might prosecute for a different offence.
“For example, if police investigate a case for rape, and within the document we find evidence for battery and assault, we would prosecute both charges.”
In the document provided by the Criminal Court, 37 cases falling under the category of “sexual misconduct” are shown as being received by the court.
Of those, nine were dismissed due to lack of evidence while fourteen were tried.
Aishath Velazinee from the Judicial Service Commission said the remaining fourteen cases did not appear asdismissed or tried because they were still being processed by the court.
She said that “because rape is not a crime under the current Penal Code” cases of rape would fall under the category of “sexual misconduct”.
“The existing Penal Code is not adequate,” she noted, adding that under the new Penal Code (which is still tabled in the Parliament) rape, including spousal rape, would be considered a crime under its own category.
Rising concerns, rising crime
The coalition of NGOs said “lack of communication between the [State] authorities” was one of the “main reasons behind the recent failure to convict criminals.”
They called upon the State to “comprehensively study and identify the causes for the recent rise in crime, in particular, identify why convicted criminals are able to offend repeatedly.”
The Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM) has also recently condemned the rise in crime.
In their 2009 annual report released on 9 March 2010, they claimed the crime rates in the country had risen, and communities in the Maldives have reached a state of fear, mainly because of “failure to enforce sentences for convicts.”
The United States 2009 annual country reports on human rights, published on 11 March 2010, also expressed concern for increased violence against women in the Maldives and lack of convictions by the judiciary.
The report cited that “In 2008 the Ministry of Gender and Family released data showing an increase in the reported cases of violence against women, although NGOs believed that most cases remained unreported.”
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