Shah to be tried in secret for Ziyadha’s rape, death

Criminal Court has made the decision to try Ibrahim Shah from G. Dh. Thinadhoo in secret over the death of his wife Ziyadha Naeem, from the same island.

Criminal Court media official reported that the decision to hold a secret trial had been made at the behest of Prosecutor General’s Office, coming ahead of the hearing scheduled for 2 pm this Monday.

It is fairly usual for Maldivian courts to hold trials relating to sexual offenses in secret.

Shah, the husband, faces three charges; marital rape, a reckless act leading to the death of a person, and negligence – leading to death of a person.

The horrific sexual assault and subsequent death of Ziyadha rocked the island of Thinadhoo, leading to protests.

The case also makes history, being the first time for the State to prosecute someone for marital rape.

According to the law, sex between a married couple will be considered consensual and cannot be considered rape unless divorce proceedings are ongoing at the court and/or its near verdict, the husband is infected with a sexually transmitted disease and tries to knowingly pass it on to his wife, or if the couple are separated based on mutual agreement, even though they may not be divorced.

Furthermore, sex between a married couple will not be considered consensual and will be considered rape if consent for sex is obtained by threatening the woman’s life, through physical harm or threat of physical harm, by threatening murder or physical harm of anyone related to the woman – either by blood or through marriage; and if the woman is misled into giving consent.

The law prescribes a prison sentence between one to three years for marital rape, three to five years if there is involvement of a weapon; three years, two months and 12 days in prison for recklessness leading to death of a person, and six years for negligence leading to the death of a person.

Shah stands to be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison if he is found guilty of all three counts.

Raped and beaten:

Speaking to press, Head of Serious and Organized Crime Department, Superintendent of Police Abdulla Shatheeh said that Ziyadha had confided with her doctors that she had been sexually and physically assaulted by Shah while they had been living separately, and that the police investigation also indicated the same.

Shatheeh said that Ziyadha’s health had deteriorated after the assault, leading to her being taken to Dr. Abdul Samad Memorial Hospital in Thinadhoo twice before being taken to Male’ for treatment with the help of her father’s family in late December, 2015.

Ziyadha was first taken to Dr. Yeganegi’s Clinic, and her narrative on how she came to have the injuries and the state of her health led to Dr. Yeganegi taking her to state-run Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The case was reported to Family and Protection Department after Ziyadha was checked by doctors at IGMH, after which a team of police officers were dispatched to IGMH and started investigating the case.

Preliminary postmortem report says that she had blood clots on various parts of her body including her arms, wrists, and scalp.

She passed away hooked up to a ventilator at IGMH on December 28, 2016.