Raudh released from police custody

Raudh Ahmed Zilal - the last person known to have been with a young woman who was found injured on a rooftop of building in Male’ on April 18 – has been released from police custody. 

He was released from the Dhoonidhoo Custodial Jail – where he has been detained for close to a month - on Thursday morning.

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

Before her fall, Yumnu 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.

The family links between the persons of interest in Yumnu’s fall and influential figures, including Ameen, and the seemingly sluggish investigation into the case sparked allegations of a police coverup and serial protests in the Maldivian capital.

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.

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. He was initially remanded in custody of the police for 10 days. His remand was later extended by five days, and then to 20 days on May 15 .

Raudh had filed an appeal with the High Court seeking to overturn his detention. The court cancelled the petition on Thursday, citing that Raudh had been released from police custody in the morning.

The appeal was heard by a bench of three judges; Mohamed Faisal, Fathimath Faruheeza and Dheebanaz Fahmy.

The petition was cancelled with the unanimous consensus of the bench.

The court order issued on April 25 for Raudh’s initial remand extension 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.”

Subsequent remand hearings were held behind closed doors at the request of the police.

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

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

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 case is now the subject of an inquiry by a five-member presidential commission, which said it questioned Raudh on May 12. However, the commission did not say if Raudh cooperated.

Yumnu, who sustained serious injuries in the fall including multiple fractures, is being treated in a hospital in Malaysia.

In a TV interview earlier in May, her sister said that Yumnu had told the family that she did not jump from the building but was pushed. She also told her family that she was familiar with Fentenoy, and was invited to visit the residence by Yassar. She also said that there were four other people there with Raudh and herself.

In response, the police said that it is vital to the investigation to get a statement from Yumnu. The police said they had been trying to get her word since day one, but were unable to get her statement due to her medical condition.