Khanji murder case: next hearing scheduled for Saturday

The hearing in the trial in murder charges against Mohamed Aabid has been carried out at the Criminal Court.

The Pakistani national was charged with murdering a fellow worker at the same restaurant in Hulhumalé where he worked as a chef.

The murdered Bangladeshi man, Shameem was employed as a waiter at Khanji restaurant in the capital’s suburban extension. He died from injuries, while receiving treatment.

The state is charging Aabid with deliberate murder using a sharp weapon and accused the suspect of stabbing his victim in the face and chest.

Presiding over the case is Judge Ismail Shafeeu.

The process of collecting witness testimonials in the case has wrapped up, which makes it the trial that saw the swiftest testimonial process in a murder case, to date.

The last hearing in the case was held during January 2023.

The court scheduled a hearing in the case several times round. However, they were all cancelled following requests by the defendant’s attorney as well as the state prosecutor.

Sunday’s hearing saw a summary statement issued.

The state attorney revealed that the charge against Aabid fulfills the offence spelt out in the Sharp Weapons Act.

The state attorney submitted that the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Procedure Code state that if the state feels that an offence other than the one charged has been proved, the accused should be allowed to speak on the issue.

With this, the defendant sought more time to respond to the state.

Another hearing has been slated for Saturday.

A summary statement will be heard during Saturday’s hearing.

Aabid has denied the charge of deliberate murder, against him.

He claimed that he threw hands in self-defense during a fight that broke out between him and the chef.

Stressing that he did not even know he was holding a knife at the time, Aabid denied the charge of deliberate murder.

Giving a testimony in an earlier hearing, the officer who compiled the DNA analysis report in connection with the case stated that he had analyzed swabs for DNA testing, alongside five knives and outfits.

The witness detailed how the analysis is carried out once the evidence is received.

Aabid faces a death penalty if the court finds him guilty of the charges pressed against him.

However, a sentence of 15 to 25 years will be imposed on the suspect if the murder charges are unproven, or if he is found guilty of abetting the murder or planning it.

In his preliminary statement, the suspect asserted that he had not attacked the Bangladeshi man with the intention to kill him and that although he had attacked the man, he had not intentionally inflicted injuries on him.

Aabid’s lawyer revealed that his client had simply acted in self-defense.

The state had presented 18 pieces of evidence in connection with the murder case, including 11 witnesses linking the suspect and victim to their nationalities.

Aabid was charged in June 2022, following the murder at Khanji restaurant in Hulhumalé in April 2022.

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PG Office) forwarded the charges of deliberate murder with a sharp weapon, to the Criminal Court on 15 June 2022.

The charges come under the act on the prohibition of threatening and being in possession of sharp weapons and objects.

Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that they received information of the assault with a sharp weapon inside a restaurant in Hulhumalé, on the evening of 16 April 2022.

A team of police officers was dispatched to the area shortly after the report was received.

The injured Bangladeshi man was rushed to the hospital immediately. However, doctors had pronounced the man dead a short while after he was taken in for treatment.

The suspected killer was arrested a day later, from the beach area in Hulhumalé Phase II.