31 sexual assault cases against children submitted during 2019
23 ޖެނުއަރީ 2020 | ބުރާސްފަތި 11:39Trials of 28 such cases are currently ongoing at the Criminal Court
Criminal Court of the Maldives
31 cases of sexual assault against children were submitted to the Criminal Court during 2019, out of which trials concluded in three cases.
Publicizing the statistics of child sexual assault cases forwarded to the court during 2019, the Department of Judicial Administration revealed that out of the 31 forwarded cases, trials are still ongoing for 28 cases.
While an alarming total of 148 child sexual assault cases were submitted from 2013 – 2019, only four cases were completed at the Criminal Court.
54 cases submitted during the aforementioned period are currently undergoing trials.
According to the publicized statistics, a total of 59 cases of sexual assault against children were submitted to both the criminal and magistrate courts during 2018.
Along with pending cases from previous years, 86 cases were completed by 2018, revealed the DJA.
This comes at a time the people has been fervently calling for appropriate action against child sex offenders and for them to be brought in front of justice with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) even having announced its decision to seek measures that will fast-track the cases seeking charges against child sex offenders at courts.
JSC also decided to order the Judicial Service Administration to establish a system that will allow such cases to be probed under a “trial block” process and to make arrangements that will allow fast-tracked trials in such cases, without delays, which has since been approved by courts.
Since the emergence of a case where a two-year-old was sexually assaulted by her close family members in Kanduhulhudhoo island of Gaaf Alif atoll, more such cases have been making the spotlight. This has led to communities across the entire Maldives taking to the streets to demonstrate, calling for swift action and justice.
The Parliament’s Committee on Human Rights and Gender, despite being in recess, has since been holding emergency meetings, ensuring relevant institutions do everything necessary to ensure children’s rights are protected. As such, the majlis committee has made several decisions to be followed through by the relevant bodies, which will then be forwarded to the Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, after which they will be implemented.
