Athuhar’s body flown back after autopsy, buried

The body of Adam Athuhar, who killed himself while in police custody, has been flown back after an autopsy and buried.

His funeral was held at 10pm on Sunday, at the mosque located in the Hulhumalé cemetery.

Athuhar’s body was sent abroad for an autopsy on the morning of September 5.

The postmortem examination was conducted on Friday.

Athuhar, native to Milandhoo island of Shaviyani atoll, died on September 2, while receiving emergency treatment at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) after attempting to kill himself inside his prison cell on September 1. Citing IGMH, police revealed that he passed away at around 04:08pm on Monday.

He was transferred to capital Malé City from Dhoonidhoo island where he was being held in custody, via speedboat.

The Maldivian man was arrested and remanded for taking a woman hostage, threatening and assaulting her at knifepoint.

Maldives Police Service (MPS) showed the video footage of Athuhar attempting suicide inside his prison cell, to the media on September 2. MPS that day revealed that Athuhar was found hanged inside his cell, on September 1 at 07:02pm.

The family has raised questions regarding the circumstances surrounding his death.

Earlier, the family stressed that they did not want to conduct a post-mortem examination on Athuhar, and that they wished to bury him as soon as possible. According to the suspect's brother, the family met authorities and requested to see the footage showing Athuhar hanging himself.

A video circulating on social media shows Athuhar being hit with a baton on his head by a police officer, in the events that led up to his arrest. He drops to the ground, taking the woman with him. Chaos breaks out after this, and officers are seen trying to gain control of the situation as a bystander helps the victim up.

Athuhar received treatment at both ADK Hospital and IGMH before being taken back to jail.

Earlier, police stated that his test results did not indicate any serious injuries.

Since then, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has launched an investigation into the arrest, medical treatment provision and the events leading up to the death of the Maldivian man. They are probing the use of force by an officer in an attempt to arrest Athuhar on 29 August 2024.

MPS has assured that they will provide full cooperation with any investigations conducted by independent institutions regarding the incident.

Transparency Maldives has also issued a statement, urging authorities to conduct a fair and independent investigation into the death.

TM has urged all relevant authorities including the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) and National Integrity Commission (NIC) to conduct a fair, independent, thorough, and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his arrest and the events leading up to his death.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has since claimed that based on the information received, it is believed that there was negligence in properly monitoring the activities of Athuhar inside the cell.

Acknowledging efforts of police officers in rescuing the woman during the hostage situation in the capital city, MDP stressed that how events unfolded have led to questions arising as to whether the police acted contrary to the established protocols for handling such situations.