Criminal Court ordered on Wednesday to detain a man that had been accused of sexually assaulting a minor over the course of several years. He visited the child’s house as a friend of her father.
In the court ruling, they state the 46 year old Maldivian from an island in the south of Maldives had forcefully brought in a 14 year old girl to his house and sexually assaulted her. This has been happening since she was 12 years old, according to their statement.
In Maldives, publishing information that could reveal the identity of minors that are victims of abuse and criminal activity is prohibited. Therefore, only a region is specified instead of the island itself, as it could lead to identification due to the small populations in the inhabited islands.
The accused man has been visiting her house as he is a friend of her father, the court ruling said. The order also said that the child had been warned that he reveal and “humiliate” her to the whole island if she told anyone about the repeated sexual abuse as well.
Criminal Court had ordered to keep the man in detention for 30 days while the investigation was being carried out. They said police had submitted enough evidence to accuse that he had committed the crime, and medical reports from the hospital show that she had been sexually abused as well.
The court ruling further notes that since he had been visiting her house as a friend of her father, he has to be detained as there is risk he may commit the crime again if he is free. They also said that it is important he remains detained so that he may not attempt to interfere or influence evidence.
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