10 people arrested in R. Maduvvari

10 people arrested from Raa Atoll Maduvvari island over unrest following the alleged rape of a minor by a four man group on March 25, 2021 | Photo: Azvar

R. Maduvvari, Maldives – Maldives Police Service has arrested 10 people from Raa Atoll Maduvvari island over unrest following the alleged rape of a minor by a four man group.

While some of the people involved in the unrest had damaged property of the police station, police had reported that they were investigating the case of damage to state property and attack on police officers following the incident.

The case including a teacher of Maduvvari School gang-raping a 14-year-old girl sparked outrage across the island and crowd of islanders gathering near the police station created chaos outside of the police station demanding the arrest of the suspects.

The victim has since been taken under the protection of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services, after providing a statement of the incident to the authorities.

Along with the teacher of the school, local news outlets have reported that a police officer of the Maduvvari Police Station was also involved in the case according to the statement given by the victim.

It was reported that the minor was taken to a house under the false pretense that she had “unfinished school work” and two masked men were present with the teacher -who was also masked- at the house the victim was lured into.

Sources have reported that the victim having stated that one of the men was dressed in police uniform and that she was threatened of his “power” as a high-ranking officer. It has also been reported that these men threatened to kill her entire family should she tell anyone what happened, before she was forced to down a glass of “juice”. The child is to have said that she was aware that she was being tied up while she was passing out.

While the rape is to have occurred earlier this month, the child has been reported to have suffered immense mental trauma from the abuse. Local media also reported that she evidently exhibits traumatized behavior such as crying, screaming and avoiding social interactions. The victim was also treated at the island hospital.

While police haven’t given any further information on the case, nor any arrests related to the rape has been made, they stated that the case was being investigated by the regional police division.