Video footage of Adam Athhar's attempt to take his own life in the Dhoonidhoo Prison cell where he was being held has been shown to journalists at a closed meeting held last night with Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan.
Video footage of Adam Athhar's attempt to take his own life in the Dhoonidhoo Prison cell where he was being held has been shown to journalists at a closed meeting held last night with Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan.
Media personnel were not allowed to take in any phones, cameras on any such devices into the meeting held at Iskandhar Koshi.
Before showing the video to the media, Minister Ihusan shared the video with Athhar's family.
As seen in the footage, no police officers were in the vicinity of the cell when the incident occurred. However, security camera offered coverage of the entire cell. As seen in the footage, police entered the cell about thirty minutes after Athhar attempted to hang himself.
The CCTV footage clearly showed Athhar hanging himself in his cell. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, no further details of the incident will be shared in media.
He was motionless by the time Police entered his cell. He was placed on a stretcher and taken from the cell to the Dhoonidhoo Medical Centre. After that, he was brought to Male' on a speed boat, where he was transferred to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). While receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit at IGMH, he passed away at 16:08 hrs yesterday.
The Minister stated last night that both the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRC) and National Integrity Commission (NIC) are conducting investigations into Athhar's death. He said that the Home Ministry would make further comments only after the investigations are concluded.
Police actions in the incident are also being reviewed through an internal investigation.
A timeline released by Police yesterday show that Athhar attempting to take his own life had come to the attention of officers at 19:02 hrs on Sunday night. Immediately, officers had entered the cell and laid him down on the floor. Three minutes later, he was placed on a stretcher and taken to the Dhoonidhoo Clinic within one minute.
Eight minutes later, at 19:14 hrs, Athhar was transferred to Male' in a speedboat, where he was placed in an ambulance at 19:17 hrs, and taken to the emergency room at IGMH by 19:25 hrs.
As per the timeline, Athhar had been transferred to IGMH within 23 minutes of Police discovering his attempt on his life.
The timeline, however, does not specify when Athhar was last seen safe.
Athhar was arrested for holding his partner hostage at knifepoint on Thursday night. A fight over paying rent had escalated into a physical altercation, with Athhar holding her hostage once police responded to the scene. Athhar's partner is a police recruit.
Once Police arrived at the scene, Athhar had held a knife to the woman's throat and threatened to kill her if anyone approached them. He also had another knife held at his own throat.
He led the woman out onto the street, and coerced her into riding a motorcycle with him as a passenger, still with the knife to her throat. Athhar continued to hold the second knife at his own throat. When the motorcycle idled due to crowds of onlookers, Police approached from behind and hit Athhar with a baton, rescuing the woman and preventing Athhar from causing further harm.
The woman was taken to IGMH, but was discharged from soon as she did not sustain serious injuries.
Athhar was taken to ADK Hospital for treatment for injuries sustained due to being hit multiple times from police batons in an attempt to subdue him. Once discharged from ADK, he was taken into custody.
He was rehospitalized later for further observation at IGMH. Once discharged, he was placed in remand in custody until the end of trial. Police said then that his medical tests, as well as a psychological assessment, indicated his condition then as normal.
Following his death, Police announced that an autopsy will be conducted to ascertain cause of death.
However, Athhar's family has refused an autopsy, and stated that they wished to hold his burial as soon as possible. Homeland Security Ministry has previously announced that autopsies will be conducted in all cases of deaths in custody even without approval from families.
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