Malé, Maldives – Last December, two women were sexually assaulted by an Indian man on the streets of Malé, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence.
The police had arrested a 54 year-old Indian man due to this case. One of the victims tweeted the decision of the police in her twitter.
The police stated that the case was sent to the Prosecutor General (PG) office, but due to lack of enough evidence, and the very unclear video footage, they were not able to prosecute the case. The police added that the case was returned to them by the PG as there was no other circumstantial evidence to the case, and because they were unsure that the accused would be found guilty.
The police further added that the case will be reinvestigated when more evidences are found and that for the time being, the case was dropped.
This has come at a time when there is public uproar regarding the safety of women in the Maldives. Public concern has escalated due to lack of justice for crimes against women and the escalation of gender based violence in the country. Prominent cases circulating in social media since March include, the case of the 14yr old school girl drugged and raped by 4 men, a 3yr old girl sexually assaulted under the care of family and most recently a woman allegedly abducted from a Malé road.
