Ruqyah abuse case: police completes probe, seeks charges

Charges against the two arrested individuals accused of sexually, physically and mentally abusing and abducting a mother and her daughters under the name of Ruqyah, have been sought at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

The charges were forwarded on Thursday.

Two individuals, aged 24 and 39, were arrested in connection to the act of pretense Ruqyah in November and the Criminal Court ordered for them to be remanded pending the outcome of trial.

The 39-year-old is the husband of the abused woman and he is to have hired the 24-year-old “Ruqyah practitioner” who abducted the women and sexually abused the family for a long time before the matter made the spotlight.

The spouse of the abused woman was arrested on November 25 and the practitioner was arrested the very next day.

The victim’s family has accused the relevant authorities including the police and gender ministry, of negligence. An online news outlet, ‘Mihaaru’ earlier reported that the woman’s spouse was involved in the abuse of his wife and children, 'Mihaaru' cited a family member having said that they had attempted to report the matter to relevant authorities, their efforts were in vain as the religious rhetoric from the husband clouded their statement.

The Human Rights and Gender Committee of the People’s Majlis has since begun probing the case, having summoned officials from the gender ministry, health ministry, education ministry, police and Human Rights Commission of the Maldives for questioning.

These meetings were held behind closed doors, due to the sensitivity of the case.

Since then, the ministry has assured that the victims have been moved to a safe environment, with the minister, Aishath Mohamed Didi having stressed that “such atrocious acts cannot be and must not be tolerated in the name of religious practice”.