Malé, Maldives – Maldives Police Service has released a statement regarding their investigation of the rape of a 14 year old girl in R. Maduvvari.
In their statement, Police confirmed that the sexual assault on a 14 year old occurred on the 3rd of March, in the North Police Division. A complaint was filed more than a week later, on the 11th of March, after which Police classified the case as a serious case and their Family and Child Protection and Crimes Against Children Department began their investigation.
Police revealed that they had the child evaluated at the regional Health Centre, and sent the child for further evaluation from a specialist at a regional Hospital.
They added that work is in progress to transfer the child to Malé for psychiatric evaluation.
Police are also working with Family and Child Protection Services to ensure the child is receiving appropriate state provided protection. The child’s family is receiving day to day updates according to Police.
They also stated that complaints involving children are to classified as serious and high priority by article 19/2019 of the Constitution. This article has mandated the training of special officers that are dedicated to the investigation of such issues.
Ending their statement, Police disclosed that such issues are closely supervised and monitored taking into account public concerns and media reports, and assured the public that Police will take necessary action as soon as their investigation is complete.
Police have not made any arrests or made any comments on the allegations by public of a police officer being one of the perpetrators of the crime.
R. Maduvvari school girl rape case
The protests in Maduvvari are regarding a gang rape case on the evening of the 3rd of this month, a school girl was taken to a guesthouse near the school by her teacher after school extracurricular activities, given a drugged drink and raped by four men including three masked men. While the girl could not identify the masked men, the rapists had threatened to kill the 14 year old.
The people of R. Maduvvari had protested in front of the police station last Wednesday night because no one had been arrested in relation to the crime. The police had arrested 10 locals who were protesting. The locals have been protesting everyday since, holding signs against rape and asking for justice.
Following this, MP of Maduvvari Constituency and Vice President of Opposition PNC, Adam Shareef has called for the arrests of rapists and for the independent parliamentary committee to investigate this case.
MP Shareef condemned the actions of the Police and called out for the immediate release of civilians who protested upon days of no arrests or progress regarding the rape case.
