Haleemath Lamha, who is being charged with the murder of Filipino nurse Mary Grace, who worked at IGMH, has said the evidences provided by the state are in an "attempt to make headlines" and denied the charges on Sunday. She also said the charges were not clear.
When charged with complicity in the murder of one of Lamha's three charges, the defense said that the most important evidence in the case would be the story of the young girl who was in the apartment at the time of the incident. He is the daughter of Mary's husband, Marvin Vargas, who is charged with murder in the case.
The Defence said even though the state was careless in obtaining the child's psychological forensic assessment from Philippines' relevant authorities, as they said they would. They said it is unclear when the report would arrive in Maldives and that it may have details that may change the entire trajectory of the case. They reiterated that they can therefore respond to the charges only after receiving the report.
Judge Hussain Faiz asked Lamha to respond to the charges after hearing they had to say in a trial hearing that went on for two hours, This is because he believes the state had done enough to clarify the charges.
Lamha's lawyer Shair had brought up their issue with the state while responding to the charges once again.
He accused the state of giving false information because journalists are in the court.
"Because journalists are here, the state provides untrue information every time, aimed towards the journalists," Shair said.
The state also elaborated on the reasons why Lamha was involved in Mary's murder. The state said that Mary's murder was planned after the relationship between Lamha and Marvin came to light.
"This is not something we are saying because journalists are here and we want to make headlines. These statements are made by the state based on solid evidence," one state prosecutor said.
According to the lawyer, deleted messages between Lamha and Marvin were recovered in the mobile forensic report submitted by the state.
They said the message involve instruction Lamha had conveyed to Marvin on how to inject a substance to a woman.
Additionally, the state dangerous drugs stolen from the hospital were found in Lamha's house. These are drugs issued to implement the death sentence in democratically elected countries.
"These are drugs that are clearly used to kill a person," the state had said.
Effects of Succinylcholine, one of the drugs found in Lamha's house was found Mary's body according to the state.
Noting that while this establishes the connection Lamha and the murder, the state said that the CCTV footage showed Lamha entering the house at the time of the incident. The video footage shows Lamha hiding her hand with her t-shirt to cover fingerprints while leaving approximately 20 minutes later.
"Why would someone act this way? If they don't know an innocent person was dead?" the state prosecutor had said.
Marvin had called IGMH asking for an ambulance a minute or so after Lamha left. He said Mary had committed suicide by hanging.
The state said Lamha left after "creating a scene showing the hanging" in the apartment. The defence has questioned whether the state had "imagined" this. They said even though CCTV footage shows Lamha entered the building, it does not show that she entered Mary and Marvin's apartment. The state however said when they questioned people in the other apartments, they said Lamha had not entered any of their apartments and it is therefore clear that she entered Mary and Marvin's apartment on the first floor. On that account, they can no longer accept that Mary's murder was carried out without Lamha's knowledge, and that the Supreme Court's sentence earlier this month regarding death of Mariyam Sheereen can also be applied in this case as well, against Lamha. Najah, he was found guilty of Sheereen's murder, was sentenced to prison even though no evidence was found to prove it directly. The judge had said they made the ruling after evaluating all evidence surrounding the case.
However, one of Lamha's lawyers, Ahmed Yameen, said that the state was talking about the sentence wrong, and in that case there were many evidences against Najah. He said the two issues can therefore not be viewed in the same light.
The defense said the state saying that Lamha told Marvin how to administer the injection was a joke.
"The state is clearly talking to create headlines. If they were not they would not say that an ordinary nurse would give instruction on how to administer an injection to the nurse in charge, or the shift-in-charge nurse. Is this a huge joke?" Abdulla Shair from Lamha's legal defence had said.
When the state clarified the charges, lawyer Yameen said that he was surprised by the state's statement that the motive of Mary's murder was the relationship between Lamha and Marvin, and that the charge would have been strengthened and would have held more weight if they had said this was because divorce is prohibited in Philippines.
State attorney Ahmed Nafaath said that the divorce process in the Philippines had been submitted and mobile forensic report had showed that Lamha and Marvin wanted to get married. Nafaath also said that under the Philippines Act, Marvin cannot divorce Mary.
Before concluding the hearing, the defence said doctors have adviced Lamha to get bedrest and avoid carrying heavy objects after falling in a toilet in jail.
Lamha spoke at the trial for the first time, speaking about her her health.
"Even before I was brought here [jail] I was diagnosed with disk degenerative disease. I was very careful, and always exercised," she said.
She said she is unable to care for her diet or exercise in jail.
Lamha said her health had been worsening since she was brought to jail but ever since the fall there has been a fracture and she is in "a very painful condition."
Judge Hussein Faiz Rasahd said a hearing will be held on Tuesday to review her detention.
Marvin's trial was also scheduled for Sunday. However it was later cancelled after Maldives Corrections Service failed to bring him.
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