Hammad’s remand extended by 15 days

Criminal Court has granted a motion to extend the detention of Ismail Hammad (Fehiali, R. Maduvvari) – the suspect in an illegal marriage and rape of a 13-year-old girl – to 15 more days.

Hammad, 26, first gained media attention after he was stabbed and thrown overboard a vessel following a dispute on November 22. Sources from Maddivari soon after reported that Hammad was part of a group of religious extremists and was engaged in an illegal marriage with an underage girl – a “marriage” sanctioned by the girl’s family.

However, the Gender Ministry and Maldives Police Service, in a joint press statement on November 24, said that the authorities found no evidence the girl had been subjected to an illegal marriage, but had evidence she and her siblings belonged to a family who held radical religious views, and had been denied their basic educational and healthcare rights.

The victim gave birth to a child she conceived during her “marriage” in early November.

The case against Hammad is being treated as sexual assault of a minor.

Hammad was arrested on December 30, immediately after he was discharged from the hospital. He was brought before the Criminal Court for his initial remand hearing on December 1. The court granted the police permission to remand him to 15 days in jail – the maximum remand period under local laws.

His remand was extended to 15 more days by the court last Sunday.

Both the 13-year-old girl and her child have now been taken under state custody. The police have arrested her parents for negligence.