The Maldives Police Service and Ministry of Islamic Affairs are investigating reports of contestants at a beauty pageant being revealingly dressed.

Mohamed Ahsan, the media official at the Islamic Ministry, told RaajjeMV that the government is investigating how ‘such an event was held’.

The issue arose with the nature of clothing contestants wore for a Top Model Maldives 2018 round held at a local resort last week.

The beauty pageant has been contentious among Maldives’ devout population. Sheikh Mohammed Iyaz Abdul Latheef, a locally prominent scholar, had criticized the competition before it was held.

“It is not allowed in Islam for women and girls to dress in short clothes and perform in front of men. It is not something that I can support” the scholar told local online newspaper, Maldives Independent.

Top Model Maldives is managed by a local company in collaboration with the World Beauty Organization, which holds the international Top Model of the World event.  

The competition was sponsored by Adaaran’s Select Hudhuranfushi resort, along with a host of local companies.