Mary's murder: Difficulties in summoning foreign doctors, seeking AG's advice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to seek legal advice from the Attorney General's Office over legal obstacles in taking the testimonies of foreign doctors who are the most important witnesses in the murder case of Filipino nurse Mary Grace Oned Pineda.

Until now, collection of such witness testimonies was done online, with the witness presented to the Maldivian embassy in the country they reside in. Many testimonies were even collected this way in the past.

However, according to new regulations, permission from the country which the witnesses reside in must be obtained prior to collecting the testimonies.

Due to this, the statement collection has been delayed - something defence lawyers continue to express concern about.

Some of these witnesses include doctors who prepared viral reports in the murder case.

During the hearing of the case today, two doctors who are currently in India were set to testify in the case. Although both were prepared to testify, the Indian Foreign Ministry is yet to arrange for them to be presented at the Maldivian Embassy in India and have their statements collected.

In light of this, prosecution told the criminal court today that the Maldivian Foreign Ministry is seeking legal advice from the Attorney General's Office to over come these legal obstacles. However, the Ministry has not shared what these legal obstacles are with the Prosecutor General's Office, the lawyer further added. However, what the lawyer did confirm is that a resolution has not been found in the matter yet.

Currently there are two prime suspects in the case. Mary's husband Marvin S. Y. Vargas and Haleemath Lamha - both nurses at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) during the same time Mary worked there.

They both stand charged with Mary's murder in October of 2021. While Marvin is charged with murder with intent, Lamha is accused of being an accomplice. Authorities believe the two were having an affair and colluded to commit the murder.

Although some witness statements were unable to be collected, a female witness who lived in the same house as both Mary and Marvin testified in court. Providing her statement, the woman, who currently lives in the Maldives, said that from what she knows, Mary died by suicide using a bedsheet.

They further detailed that they saw Mary leaving the house on the day of her death and that she had prepared a Filipino meal for the day because her brother was due to arrive. That evening she head of Mary's death, the witness said. She also told the court that she overheard Marvin mention that Mary and he had an argument that day over a broken faucet.

According to presiding judge Hussain Faaiz Rashad, the goal is to complete all witness statement collections by the end of the month. Currently there are two more hearings scheduled for this month.