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Thursday 12 Mar 2026
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Mary cooks in the kitchen of her rundown house. (Photo/Moms Aid)
Local NGO, Moms Aid has opened donations to build a home for a domestic violence victim who is living in dire conditions with her five children.
The initiative is part of the group’s annual ‘Hiyaavahi’ campaign, aimed at supporting vulnerable families facing housing crises.
This year, the NGO selected a mother of five, who has been enduring a life of pain and suffering, and has been registered in Moms Aid’s care list since 2023.
According to Moms Aid, the family’s situation has been verified by the police, island council, the court, and the family and relatives.
This is her story:
Mary (not her real name), comes from a broken family herself. Her mother brought her up with measly earnings made by making and selling spices and snacks. She was sent to Male’ to pursue education, but had to give up her studies due to the family’s difficult situation.
The family suffered a further setback when Mary’s grandmother got diagnosed with cancer. She accompanied her grandmother to India for her treatment, which was where she met a man 10 years her senior. He quickly took over and helped take care of her grandmother’s treatment.
They got married, three years later.
But the man who Mary believed to be kind and compassionate, subjected her to brutal physical and emotional abuse.
He pushed her face into a plate full of hot food, kicked her while she was holding their child, and threw a dumbbell at her while she was feeding their child, resulting in permanent injuries.
She sought treatment for her injuries in hospitals both local and abroad.
But the abuse never stopped, until one day, he punched her face until her eyes bled, told her she was divorced, and left.
“At that moment, I realized he wasn’t just leaving me injured, but divorced as well. It was a feeling I can’t explain. It was like the pain ceased for a moment. I felt a sliver of hope. I grabbed my son and went to my neighbor’s,” she said.
Mary and her son moved back to her home island. But he faced bullying due to mental health issues, and Mary decided to move back to Male’ seeking better educational opportunities for her son.
While in Male’, Mary got remarried to a man who had two sons from a previous marriage. The couple also had two more children of their own.
Having contracted tuberculosis as a young boy, Mary’s husband suffers from a permanent lung ailment.
The family later moved back to her husband’s home island, living in an old and rundown house belonging to her mother-in-law.
The house offers little shelter from the rain, leading to many sleepless nights and heavy rain causes flooding inside the house. The room whether the two older children sleep has no ventilation, making it unbearably hot.
Moms Aid has documented nights where the children were forced to take showers three or four times to keep cool, and cried as they were unable to sleep due to the heat.
The injuries Mary sustained during her first marriage make it impossible for her to breastfeed, leaving her reliant on baby formula to feed her younger children. She has to get baby formula and other necessities by opening tabs in stores.
Mary’s eldest son requires therapy on a weekly basis. But due to lack of facilities in the island they reside in, they need to travel to another island with a hospital for tests. They are also unable to travel to Male’ to get regular assessments done due to financial constraints.
But despite the desperate situation, Mary remains resolute, and even hopeful that things will turn around.
Donations to help Mary and her family can be made to:
Additional information can be clarified by contacting Moms Aid via 7349392, 7349394, or 7349393.
Moms Aid has built seven homes and renovated 27 more across the Maldives as part of its ‘Hiyaavahi’ campaign.
