Afiya granted 10 days to respond for Ibthihaal's murder case

A verdict in the murder case against Afiya Mohamed Manik, the mother of Mohamed Ibthihaal, a three-year old child who was murdered, is to be issued in December after the Criminal Court postponed it. 

Afiya, from V. Rakeedhoo, is alleged to have murdered Ibthihaal in early 2015, after inflicting a number of injuries to the child. She is charged with the murder of a minor and disobedience by the prosecutors. 

Under the Criminal Procedure Code, a verdict in Afiya’s case must be issued within 30 days of concluding hearings. The hearings of the case were, however, concluded on February 26.  

A hearing to issue the verdict was held today, and Afiya said that she wished to respond to the case with the assistance of a lawyer. Aminath Rukshaana Ibrahim was appointed as her lawyer, however, Afiya initially said that she did not wish for a lawyer, leading to the absence of the defense attorney to the hearings. 

Rukshaana, in today’s hearing said that Afiya had requested for a lawyer after the summary hearings. She said that she wished to analyze the case further, after consulting with Afiya and to respond afterward. She noted the constitutional right to request for a lawyer and requested additional time to analyze the developments of the case. The defense lawyer also requested to allow Afiya to speak before the verdict. 

The prosecution did not argue against the move for which the defense attorney requested 10 days to analyze the case.

The judge in the case then moved to grant ten days to the defense for which a date is to be announced later on. 

Afiya had admitted to the murder of Ibthihaal after she was presented to the Magistrate Court of V. Rakeedhoo. She was brought to the court regarding her detention period. Afiya had also pleaded guilty to the crime in the Criminal Court and during police investigations. However, Afiya later changed her story in court and denied the crime, even stating that she had not harmed Ibthihaal.