Raudh’s remand extended by 10 days

The detention of Raudh Ahmed Zilal - the last person known to have been with a young woman who had found injured on a rooftop of building in Male’ on April 18 - has been extended by 10 days.

21-year-old Mariyam Yumnu was found injured on the rooftop of a warehouse in the Henveiru district at around 07:30 am on April 18. According to the police, their investigation uncovered that she fell from a skylight on the ninth-floor stairwell of the adjacent building, H. Fentenoy, but that there was no evidence of foul play.

But before her fall, she had been part of a group of at least nine individuals who were at Ma. Maandhooge Dhekunuge – the family residence of Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen - for a party, where they are believed to have possibly consumed drugs and alcohol.

CCTV footage shows four of them, including Yumnu and Raudh, left the house at around 03:40 am and went to G. Kashiveli, located in front of STELCO in Ameenee Magu, at around 04:00 am. They are seen exiting the second house around 10 minutes later. Yumnu and Raudh, the former of whom was barefoot, were then seen at around 04:15 am entering H. Fentenoy, a nearby building located in Buruzu Magu, from where she fell.

The police had initially refused to name anyone else except for Yumnu. It wasn’t until six days later – on April 24 – that the police finally named eight people who had been with Yumnu in the party as persons of interest; Raudh, 21; Izdhiyaan Mohamed Maumoon, 28; Aishath Layaaly Iqbal, 22; Yoosuf Ahmed Akram, 22; Yoosuf Yassar Abdul Ghafoor, 28; Aminath Junaina Jamsheed, 24; Hussain Hamees Ali, 28; and Ijaz Jaiz, 24.

All eight now have travel bans against them.

Meanwhile, the house where the group held the party was confirmed as the family residence of Ameen, who admitted that two of his nephews – Izdhiyaan and Yoosuf Ahmed Akram - were among the group of individuals involved, but denied he knew anything about what he described as the “gathering.”

The same day, the police arrested Raudh, who had been with Yumnu in the last moments before her fall, for lack of cooperation.

The Criminal Court had initially ordered for Raudh to be remanded for five days on April 25. He was brought before the court for an extension to his remand on Wednesday. The court extended his remand by 10 days.

The court order issued on April 25 for Raudh’s remand shows investigators believe Yumnu and Raudh had argued before she fell – something the police hadn’t mentioned in two press briefings held in the wake of the incident.

It also says that when questioned shortly after Yumnu’s fall, Raudh had responded with “I don’t know where she is” and “I think she fell.”

Raudh is being held at the Dhoonidhoo Custodial Jail, a detention facility located in an island near Male'.

The police have said that both Yumnu and Raudh were heavily intoxicated at the time, and had both tested positive for narcotics. Clips of CCTV footage shared by police show Yumnu appeared to have trouble walking, and even fell down on the ground at one point.

The family links between the persons of interest in Yumnu’s fall and influential figures, including Ameen and Raud's brother Daud Ahmed, an undersecretary at the President's Office, and the seemingly sluggish investigation into the case has sparked allegations of a police coverup.

It wasn’t until April 24 – six days after Yumnu’s fall – that the police obtained warrants to search the other two properties linked to the case – Kashiveli and Ameen’s family residence.

But the police said on Monday that they were unable to obtain CCTV footage from Ameen’s residence because they were told that the cameras in the house were broken.

The case of Yumnu, who spent nearly three hours on the rooftop of a warehouse before a neighbor saw her and alerted the authorities, has sparked serial protests in Male’.

The protestors, a vast majority of them young men and women, have been demanding justice for her, and the resignation of top government and police officials over the alleged coverup, including Ameen and Home Minister Ali Ihusan.

The then-Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Shujau bowed under pressure and tendered his resignation on Saturday night, following four straight nights of protest, and was replaced with Ismail Naveen as acting CP.

A couple of hours later, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu appointed presidential commission to conduct an independent inquiry into the case.

Yumnu, who sustained serious injuries in the fall including multiple fractures, was flown to a hospital in Malaysia last weekend. The family received USD 25,000 (MVR 385,500) from the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA), and the rest of the money needed for her medical treatment was raised through a fundraiser.