Madheeha's candidacy revoked over child sex abuse comments

The disciplinary committee of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has voided the candidacy of Madheeha Abdulla in the party's primaries over insensitive comments regarding child sex abuse.

Public outrage churned after reports of the rape of a two-year-old from G.A Kanduhulhudhoo by her great grandfather; 81-year-old and grandfather; 62-year-old surfaced on January 16th. Following the arrest of both child sex offenders, Madeeha, a sibling of the 62-year-old rapist, publicly defended the rape allegations against her relatives in an interview to a local news agency.

In the interview, Madeeha stated that the rape allegations are false stories spread by the toddler's maternal side of the family. She defended her brother, the rapist, stating that the toddler would not be alive and walking around in a "happy" mood if she had really been raped by the two elderly men. After her comments were publicised, many members of the public took to Twitter to express their concern and outrage.

RaajjeMV understands that Madeeha's candidacy was cancelled over these comments. Likewise, MDP stated that eradicating child sex abuse is one of the party's priorities.

The party further stated that identifying enablers and perpetrators of child sex abuse were discussed at MDP's disciplinary committee meeting on Thursday as well. As such, while speaking to RaajjeMV, a senior official of MDP confirmed that Madheeha's candidacy has been revoked. However, the party has yet to officially make the announcement.