Mickail: Police changed their decision within moments, must be investigated

South Galolhu MP Mickail Ahmed Naseem, on Monday, questioned the actions of the police in response to the sexual assault on board a safari boat over the weekend, stating that the sudden shift in the approach – from when the police arrested the suspects from the scene of the crime to when the police released the suspects after they were taken to the police station – must be investigated.

The sexual assault which took place on board a safari boat off the cost of suburban Hulhumale’ was reported to the police at approximately 05:00 am on Friday.

The victim was identified as a woman of foreign nationality, while the suspects were identified as two Maldivian men of 39 years of age.

The two suspects were arrested from the Hulhumale’ jetty, treated by the police as part of the scene of the crime, but were later released from police custody due to “lack of sufficient grounds to keep them detained for the investigation”.

One of the suspects is reported to be the husband of a parliamentarian, giving rise to allegations the suspects were released using political influence.

Taking part in a debate on an emergency motion filed in response to the allegations surrounding the case, Mickail said the police had acted contrary to their standard approach in investigating crimes of sexual violence.

Mickail said the police had issued a statement two days after the crime was reported to have taken place, and only after they came under pressure in face of mounting public outrage.

“When looking into the standard approach of the police in response to such crimes, we see the police issue a tweet within one hour, announcing they have arrested these people as suspects, that they were arrested from this crime scene, that they were arrested under this court warrant, that they were these people. And that they are conducting further investigations. But what happened in response to this specific case is different,” he said.

Mickail said that while the police had issued a statement two days later, the statement says that the suspects were arrested from the crime scene, and that the victim has provided a statement saying the suspects groped and sexually assaulted her.

It’s also clear from the statement that the victim jumped overboard to escape the suspects, and that she was pleading for help while completely drenched.

Mickail said he failed to understand the police deemed it necessary to release the suspects after they were taken to the police station, when it is clear they had been arrested from the crime scene based on the statement of the victim and other evidence in the first place.

“We need to investigate what happened in between. We need to investigate why the police changed their approach within such a short period of time, and did a complete reversal on the decision to arrest them. This is the key aspect in this case,” he said.

Mickail too alleges the decision of the police had been influenced.

He said that while the case should be investigated with impartiality, evidence of influence was clear from the very start.

He questioned who had made the phone call to the police to lead to the shift in approach.

Mickail said the police institution had been established and empowered for the very purpose of practicing impartiality and delivering justice.

“But we can clearly establish, what’s most noticeable in this case, is the police would not have made these decisions if not for outside influence, whether political or any other,” he said.

Mickail noted that crimes of sexual violence are time sensitive, and that a delay of even one hour leaves room for destruction of evidence.

A local news outlet published an article on Sunday morning which describes the incident. According to the article, which the news outlet said was based on information provided by the victim herself, she was not just groped and sexually assaulted, but also raped.  

However, the police said in its statement on Sunday night that the victim said she had not talked to any news outlet.

Mickail said he found it hard to believe the police, given that the victim could have been intimidated.

THIS MUST NOT END WITH THE POLICE

Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef said it is not just the police who must be held accountable for the decision to release the suspects.

“This must not end by shifting all the blame on the police alone. But it’s true, the police have a responsibility to investigate crimes and maintain safety and security in the streets,” he said.

Shareef said the police must conduct its investigation transparently to bolster public confidence.

Hulhumale’ MP Ali Niyaz said the people have a right to know the truth, and other institutions must verify the information on the police press statement.

“We have been hearing about sexual harassment and violence against women without cease. I therefore find it imperative to find a solution to this through collective efforts. This cannot be accomplished by the government or the police alone. The Parliament and the community need to be educated on this,” he said.

The police, in its statement on Sunday night, said the sexual assault was reported when the police approached a woman and two men – the victim and the two suspects - on the Hulhumale’ jetty in the early hours of Friday.

According to the police, the victim said she went to the safari boat on Thursday night after receiving an invitation from a friend, where she met and spent time with the two suspects who groped her without her consent and sexually assaulted her. She said she jumped overboard to escape them, after which the two suspects followed her on a dinghy and pulled her out of the water and took her to the Hulhumale’ jetty.

The police said the two men were taken into custody immediately because the jetty area was treated by the police as part of the crime scene, but were released from custody because of lack of grounds to keep them detained for the investigation based on the information which had been collected to that point.

The move is a marked difference from the standard approach of the police in dealing with cases of sexual violence, where police petition the court for suspects to be remanded in police custody for the investigation.

Amid the allegations of links between the suspects and government leaders, the opposition has called on authorities to release the identities of the suspects.

The police have provided assurance it will conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the case.