Head of the presidential inquiry commission on Disappearances and Deaths, Husnu Al Suood has said that the investigation into the case of missing 19-year-old Aminath Shima Nafiz, does not come within the mandate of the commission.

This was in response to a tweet posted by a local, expressing hope for the commission to seek the truth behind the 19-year-old’s disappearance as her family continues to implore that there was “foul-play” regarding the case.

“Her family need to know what happened to her”, reads the tweet.

The commission is tasked with investigating and seeking verdicts in cases of murders and enforced disappearance dated between 1 January 2012 to 17 November 2018.

Shima’s case is believed to be out of the commission’s mandate as her disappearance was reported in February, this year.

In April, Maldives Police Service (MPS) had revealed reports of Shima’s body having been burned in an uninhabited island. Following said reports, officers had searched two islands in Gaaf Alif, to no avail.

While 17 islands have been searched thus far, police revealed that they had taken statements from 46 individuals.

On February 22, Shima boarded a flight from Malé to Fonadhoo and then attempted to travel to Maamendhoo on a dinghy being steered by a man, who after the dinghy overturned, placed her on top of it and swam to a nearby resort. Shima has been missing since.