The Edition
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linkedin icon

Latest

Court convicts Aafiya for 20 years over Ibthihaal's death

Shahudha Mohamed
29 December 2020, MVT 11:23
Aafiya Mohamed, mother of Mohamed Ibthihaal, who succumbed to injuries caused by abuse in January 2015, arriving at court for a hearing. PHOTO: MIHAARU
Shahudha Mohamed
29 December 2020, MVT 11:23

The Criminal Court on Monday, sentenced Aafiya Mohamed, mother of Mohamed Ibthihaal, to serve 20 years in prison - a decade and 11 months after the latter died of extensive injuries sustained due to abuse.

Although Aafiya initially confessed to the charges of first-degree homicide and non-compliance, she later revoked her confession and maintained that she was forced to confess under duress.

During Monday’s session, presiding Judge Mohamed Sameer stated that Aafiya had accepted the charges in the presence of a lawyer, without any indication of being coerced.

Moreover, the judge noted that Aafiya had recounted a 14-page statement during the investigation, detailing the abuse prior to Ibthihaal’s death, including confessions of strangulation and beatings. She had also demonstrated the abuse on a plastic figure.

Judge Mohamed Sameer also noted that Aafiya had admitted to beating her child out of anger with intent to kill, on multiple occasions during the investigative process.

Referring to the aforementioned points, and the fact that she had confessed to the crime in a court of law during her remand hearing, the judge concluded that there was no evidence to back up Aafiya’s claims that she had been forced to confess under duress.

In addition to Aafiya’s confession, Judge Sameer stated that the evidence against her is enough to convict her without a shadow of doubt.

Therefore, the court sentenced her to 20 years in prison, as well as fasting consecutively for 20 days.

The court decided against capital punishment for Aafiya as Islamic law states that parents cannot be punishable by death for the murder of their children.

Judge Sameer also noted that Aafiya was a victim of severe abuse, such as sexual assault from her stepfather and others and being forced into prostitution by her mother and stepfather.

"Aafiya has yet to receive justice for the abuse she went through", he said.

However, he asserted that the fact that Aafiya had not received justice was not a reason for Ibthihaal's justice to be denied.

The judge also noted that negligence and secrecy resulted in Ibthihaal's death, noting that the child should have been taken under state custody due to the circumstances he was growing up in.

In this tragedy that shook a nation, the state had charged a number of Gender Ministry's employees and Maldives Police Service personnel with negligence over Ibthihaal's murder.

Nevertheless, the Criminal Court has already rejected some of the cases, with the Supreme Court sustaining a High Court and Employment Tribunal's decision to reinstate one such civil servant hailing from the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services.

Across 2020, a wave of public ire has been observed to be steadily rising over Maldives’ meagre record of arresting and convicting perpetrators of abuse and gender-based violence, which has, in turn, led to the formation of multiple movements and holding of rallies, even despite the ongoing pandemic and subsequent, continued state of a public health emergency.

Share this story

Related Stories

Discuss

MORE ON NEWS