Police ask PGO to file criminal charges against Raudh

The police have asked the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to file criminal charges against Raudh Ahmed Zilal - the last person known to have been with a young woman who was found injured on a rooftop of building in Male’ on April 18.

21-year-old Mariyam Yumnu was found injured on the rooftop of a warehouse in the Henveiru district of the Maldivian capital at around 07:30 am on April 18. According to the police, their investigation uncovered that she fell from a skylight in the ninth-floor stairwell of the adjacent building, H. Fentenoy, but that there was no evidence of foul play – a claim that, according to her family, Yumnu disputes.

Raudh, who had been with Yumnu at Fentenoy in the last moments before her fall, had been questioned by the police and tested for drugs – tests that turned out positive.

But he wasn’t arrested until nearly a week later, on April 24. Police said at the time that they were arresting him for lack of cooperation.

He was released from Dhoonidhoo Custodial Jail on May 22, but rearrested mere hours later, under a new court warrant - decision that the police said was to “complete some procedural matters.”

A police spokesperson confirmed to Sun on Monday afternoon that the agency made a formal request with the PGO for criminal charges against Raudh on Saturday, May 24.

However, the specific charges are unclear.

Before her fall, Yumnu had been part of a group of at least eight other individuals who were at Ma. Maandhooge Dhekunuge – the family residence of Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen - for a party, where they are believed to have possibly consumed drugs and alcohol.

The family links between the persons of interest in Yumnu’s fall and influential figures, including Ameen, and the seemingly sluggish investigation into the case sparked allegations of a police coverup and serial protests in the Maldivian capital.

The police had initially refused to name anyone else except for Yumnu. It wasn’t until six days later – on April 24 – that the police finally named eight people who had been with Yumnu in the party as persons of interest; Raudh, 21; Izdhiyaan Mohamed Maumoon, 28; Aishath Layaaly Iqbal, 22; Yoosuf Ahmed Akram, 22; Yoosuf Yassar Abdul Ghafoor, 28; Aminath Junaina Jamsheed, 24; Hussain Hamees Ali, 28; and Ijaz Jaiz, 24.

Meanwhile, the house where the group held the party was confirmed as the family residence of Ameen, who admitted that two of his nephews – Izdhiyaan and Yoosuf Ahmed Akram - were among the group of individuals involved, but denied he knew anything about what he described as the “gathering.”

The same day, the police arrested Raudh, who had been with Yumnu in the last moments before her fall, for lack of cooperation.

The court order issued on April 25 for Raudh’s initial remand extension shows investigators believe Yumnu and Raudh had argued before she fell – something the police hadn’t mentioned in two press briefings held in the wake of the incident.

It also says that when questioned shortly after Yumnu’s fall, Raudh had responded with “I don’t know where she is” and “I think she fell.”

Subsequent remand hearings were held behind closed doors at the request of the police.

The case of Yumnu, who spent nearly three hours on the rooftop of a warehouse before a neighbor saw her and alerted the authorities, had sparked serial protests in Male’.

The police have said that both Yumnu and Raudh were heavily intoxicated at the time, and had both tested positive for narcotics. Clips of CCTV footage shared by police show Yumnu appeared to have trouble walking, and even fell down on the ground at one point.

The case is now the subject of an inquiry by a five-member presidential commission, which said it questioned Raudh on May 12. However, the commission did not say if Raudh cooperated.

Yumnu, who sustained serious injuries in the fall including multiple fractures, is being treated in a hospital in Malaysia.

In a TV interview earlier in May, a family member said that Yumnu had told them that she did not jump from the building but was pushed. She also told her family that she was familiar with Fentenoy, and was invited to visit the residence by Yassar. She also said that there were four other people there with Raudh and herself.

The case is now the subject of an inquiry by a five-member presidential commission, which said it questioned Raudh on May 12. However, the commission did not say if Raudh cooperated.

In a statement on April 22, police said that two officers have been stationed in Kuala Lumpur since the day of her arrival, and that that Yumnu’s family were being uncooperative, leading to lack of success in taking her statement.

The police said they had therefore decided to seek the assistance of Malaysian authorities to interview Yumnu.

But in a statement last weekend, Yumnu's family said the police never made a formal request to interview Yumnu.