Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem has revealed that 46 different cases regarding sexual assault had been submitted to the court during the lockdown period provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to lockdown statistics publicized by the PG these 46 cases fit under several categories including exploiting children to crime, attempting sexual offenses as well as entering a house to attempt sexual assault.

Shameem revealed that the average age of those accused of sexual offenses is 35.

Further, he revealed that the Maldives Police Service (MPS) takes an average of 88 days to send cases to the Prosecutor General’s Office which then takes 2.6 days to forward these cases to court.

The PGO gets involved in the investigation stage due to which they have access to documents, said Shameem.

He highlighted that it is a remarkable achievement.

For the first time in five years, Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed requested from the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to issue an order to remand a child rape suspect arrested on Friday, until his trial concludes.

The request stems from the law on Effecting Special Procedures Against Child Sexual Offenders (12/2009), that gives authority to do so.