“21yo fell on her own”; police dismiss foul play, public outcry grows over alleged political ties

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has claimed that the 21-year-old woman found on a rooftop fell on her own, and that no one else was involved in the incident.

The police institution made this statement while briefing journalists at Iskandar Koshi on Tuesday night.

MPS revealed that the case of a woman found fallen on a rooftop was reported to them at around 7:23am on April 18.

There have been various reports circulating in connection with the incident. Some have alleged that the woman did not fall on her own but deliberately pushed off the terrace of a building.

Four days after the incident, while the police institution had failed to provide any information details of the incident began circulating on social media, after which the police institution finally met with journalists on Tuesday and shared some information about the incident. They showed CCTV footage of the house where they were and the moment the woman fell.

According to the police institution, seven other youth were with the woman that night. In total, there were three women and five men.

The police institution said four individuals entered a house on Ameenee Magu, but only the woman and the man accompanying her that night were later seen leaving. CCTV footage then shows the man speaking with another individual outside.

The footage shows the 21-year-old woman and the man entering a house in the same area that had “no connection to them”.

The footage shows them in the stairwell of the building. It also shows them engaging in immoral acts. The police institution noted they were intoxicated at the time. According to police, the man had tested positive for drugs, and the woman's preliminary test was also positive to narcotics.

CCTV footage shows the woman falling as the man was climbing the stairs to the building’s ninth floor. Police stated that he was not near her at the time of the fall and confirmed that no one else was involved.

The police said the woman fell through the stairwell window on the ninth floor and landed on the roof of the two-story building next door.

Police, citing the footage, said that the footage shows the man coming to the scene after hearing the crash. Some other people in the house also rushed outside upon hearing the crash, at around 4:52am on April 17. Referring to the footage the police also said that the man was shirtless at the time.

According to police, the video also captures the sound of the man crying as he rushes up after the woman fell. The police institution said he tried to find the woman and sought help from others.

MPS said the incident was reported by a member of the public and the woman was brought down from the roof with the assistance of a military rescue team.

According to the police, due to severe injuries from the fall, the woman's identity was confirmed through a face recognition test. She was initially treated on a ventilator at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). However, she has now been taken off the ventilator.

Although the police did not reveal the names of all parties involved in the case, they did disclose the name of the woman who fell. It is believed that the other names were not revealed because they are related to senior political figures in the current administration.