Dr. Naaz: Afiya killed her son of her own free will

Afiya Mohamed Manik killed her three-year-old son, Mohamed Ibthihaal of her own free will, says Dr. Aishath Ali Naaz, who conducted psychological evaluations on Afiya.

Dr. Naaz made the statement during her testimony at Ibthihaal murder hearing held at the Criminal Court at 11 am this Monday.

Starting the hearing, Judge Muhthaaz Fahmy said the long hiatus in the trial had been because the court had been unable to summon the State witness as she resided abroad.

State witness, Dr. Naaz testified that she conducted multiple psychological evaluations on Afiya.

She said she conduct an in-depth interview to evaluate Afiya’s psyche, and conducted multiple tests based on her observations. Naaz said the mental aptitude test done on Afiya showed she was of average intelligence, and that she was able to understand and make decisions.

She said Afiya did not have any auditory or visual hallucinations.

She said the repeated tests showed Afiya had high levels of depression and anxiety, but that she showed no signs of a psychotic disorder.

Naaz noted that Afiya showed high levels of resentment – especially towards her stepfather – who has been accused of sexually abusing her.

Naaz said Afiya has undergone repeated sexual abuse.

Naaz said her assessment showed Afiya had killed Ibthihaal of her own free will, and not due to a hallucination or delusion.

She also said she conducted a role-play session with Afiya in which she made her Afiya show her how she killed Ibthihaal. She said Afiya had cried after the session and pleaded with her to help those with anger management issues.

Afiya did not use her opportunity to cross examine the witness.

Three-year-old Ibthihaal was found beaten to death in his house in V. Rakeedhoo on January 28, 2015.