Malé, Maldives – The brother-in-law of an autistic child who was raped and impregnated two years ago at the age of 15 has been sentenced to prison for 18 years.
The case first came to light after the teenager experienced missed menstrual periods, due to which she was taken for a medical evaluation. Upon the family’s request, she was administered a pregnancy test, which came back positive, revealing she was about three months pregnant at the time. Following this, Police arrested a 37 year old male, who was the husband of her sister.
After the arrest and subsequent investigations, the man was charged with carrying out an act of sexual nature against a minor while being in a position of trust. In detail, it was revealed that he was specifically charged with raping the teen on three different occasions towards the beginning of 2020, by taking the child to a room built on his land. He is also believed to have sexually abused the child in her family home where he also resided in.
Based on the evidence presented, the Criminal Court ruled yesterday that it was sufficient to prove that the charges raised against the man were true. As such, the state requested the maximum punishment allowed within the law to be ordered against him. In requesting so, the state highlighted that the minor is disabled and that evaluations suggested that the psychological age of the child was that of a child between the age of 6 months and 3 years, which is something the offender was aware of.
The state also stressed on the numerous medical procedures the victim had to undergo due to the pregnancy, as she was not capable of carrying a pregnancy to term and delivering a baby.
Accepting the state’s request, the court ordered the maximum possible punishment, which is 18 years in prison. However, with him already having had been in custody for two years, three months and 19 days, he will only be serving the remaining 15 years, eight months and 11 days in of the original sentence.
