Marvin Vargas, who is on trial for the alleged murder of his wife, will face infringement of rights if hearings are conducted online, his defense attorney claimed on Wednesday.
Mary Grace died in October 2021. Marvin claims she committed suicide, but the police launched a homicide investigation against Marvin and his lover Haleemath Lamha. Both have denied charges.
The Criminal Court has faced problems due to lack of space after a large area of the building was closed down to disrepair. Mary's murder trial was also not held for four months due to this issue.
But Wednesday's hearing was held online with both Marvin and Lamha attending from the Maafushi Jail. Lawyers participated online from their workplaces while a doctor in Sri Lanka also participated from the Maldives embassy.
Although the court had scheduled the testimony of the doctor, presiding judge Hussain Faiz Rashad noted that defense attorney Ismail Ahmed had objected to conducting the trial online.
Marvin faces translation issues when hearings are held online, lawyer Ismail said. He also said Marvin has many questions to ask the defense counsel during the hearing and the questions cannot be addressed if hearings are held online.
State attorney Aishath Shama Naseer said the witness for Wednesday's hearing would testify in English and noted that Marvin understands English. She requested the court to continue the hearing.
But the judge decided to discontinue the hearings online due to the defense counsel's concerns and previous translation issues. The judge noted that he was aware of the current situation of the court space constraints.
Police believe love affair led to murder
Despite Marvin’s claim that he found Mary hanging, police conducted an investigation and accused him and his lover Haleemath Lamha of murder.
Mary was a nurse in the IGMH dialysis department while Marvin and Lamha worked as nurses in the casualty department.
The court had previously heard evidence that Mary had confronted Marvin and Lamha when she found out about their affair.
Divorce is illegal in the Philippines so the police believe the pair conspired to murder Mary to officiate their relationship.
Marvin reported the death on October 19, 2021. He was detained a week later on October 27. Lamha was arrested 50 days later on December 16.
Marvin was also the one who took Mary into emergency treatment at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
Three doctors in the emergency department had testified there were no hanging marks on Mary’s neck. Mary's face was blue and had sustained injuries to the head and neck. Doctors' testimony and autopsy report confirm the death was caused by asphyxiation.
Marvin was charged with wilful murder and Lamha was charged with wilfully aiding a murder.
She faces additional charges after police discovered medicines belonging to IGMH hidden in her room which she had taken without permission.
