Witness testimonies in the murder trial of Nadheem Abdul Raheem has been delayed as the state failed to produce its witnesses to Wednesday’s hearing.

Speaking at the hearing, the state prosecutor said that they were unable to present witnesses to the hearing due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the city.

Noting that the state has submitted the names of 11 witnesses, the state prosecutor said that they have only obtained the testimonies of four and that an additional hearing is required to complete all witness testimonies.

The Criminal Court decided to allow this, with presiding Judge Hussain Faiz Rasheed saying that two more hearings will be scheduled to hear state witnesses; on 21 and 24 February. Further, a hearing has been scheduled for March 1 as well, for the defendants to present their witnesses.

Four men were charged over the 2017 murder of Nadheem; Mohamed Mafaz, Ali Nifaz, Hussain Shamin and Mohamed Karam Suhail. A group of masked men attacked the 23-year-old while he was at a café in capital Male’ on 27th July 2017; he died from injuries a few days later.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the defence argued that any delays to the trial was an injustice to the defendants. Hence, they said the defendants needed to be accorded eases as well, such as release from custody or at the least, transfer to house arrest.

While the state prosecutor objected to this, Judge Rasheed pointed out that a separate hearing regarding their remand sentences is upcoming and that the fate of their remands will be decided then.

The last hearing in the case was held on January 31, where two of the state's anonymous witnesses were heard. Both witnesses testified that it was suspect Mafaz who stabbed Nadheem in the head, adding that they had a clear view of the attack.

Further noting that Mafaz was accompanied by a second individual, Nifaz, the witnesses said that they were able to identify the suspects despite the attackers having covered their faced covered, as the scarves used to shield the faces had come off at some point during the attack.

The anonymous witnesses added the attackers entered and exited the café after attacking Nadheem, in less than five minutes.