Top court steps in after magistrate sentences woman to death by stoning

Supreme Court has overturned a sentence of death by stoning (rajm) issued by Naifaru Magistrate Court to a woman convicted of extramarital sex.

The top court issued a ruling this Monday in which it said the Naifaru Magistrate Court conducted the trial and issued its sentence in violation of Article 27 of the Act on Sex Crimes referenced by the Prosecutor General’s Office in the charge against the woman.

The woman in question had reportedly confessed to having extramarital sex and has given birth out of wedlock.

The sentence of death by stoning was issued by Magistrate Sheikh Mohamed Moosa, who has worked at the court for over a year.

The Supreme Court intervened in a similar fashion when G. A. Gemanafushi Magistrate sentenced a woman to death by stoning for extramarital sex back in 2015.

Maldives has not enforced a death penalty in over 65 years.