A man who sustained serious injuries in a fall from the first floor of a building during an arrest was taken to the custodial centre instead of the hospital, a police statement has revealed.
Mohamed Azmeel Jaleel, 38, was identified as the victim of the incident that occurred around 2:15 pm last Monday. Azmeel's spine was broken in three places in the fall and his head was severely damaged, causing blood leakage to the brain.
He is currently undergoing treatment on a ventilator at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital's (IGMH) ICU.
The police's delay in taking Azmeel to the hospital forced doctors to put him on the ventilator, the family alleged on Wednesday.
A statement released by the police later on Wednesday revealed negligence by police officers. In the statement, police admitted that Azmeel had not been taken to the hospital for an hour after the incident. According to police, Azmeel was taken to the hospital at 3:05 pm.
Azmeel was first taken to the police custodial despite sustaining injuries in the fall, according to the statement. He was later taken to the hospital after the custodial's medical officer examined him, police said in the statement.
Despite police claiming to have taken Azmeel to the hospital at 3:05 pm, hospital records obtained by Adhadhu show that he was brought to the hospital around 4:20 pm.
After Azmeel fell from the building, police officers forced him up and put him inside the vehicle despite the family's appeals to not lift him, the family alleged.
"We learned of the fall when a neighbour came and told us. When we immediately went down and checked, he was writhing on the ground. When the police tried to take him up, we told them to first call an ambulance without taking him. His head was bleeding even then," a member who spoke on behalf of the family said.
"But the police said he was okay. They said that and lifted him upright and took him away on the vehicle."
In the statement, police said that Azmeel fell while trying to evade arrest. The police officers had been sent to bring Azmeel to the Drug Court under custody.
However, police officers did not come with an arrest warrant, Azmeel's family said.
"Police did not show a court order even when they came and left. Police acted very casually even at the time. They wouldn't have done that if they had humanity," the family member said.
Azmeel's family has filed cases with the police's Professional Standards Command, the National Integrity Commission (NIC) and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) to investigate the incident.
Similar incidents of police negligence and delays in providing treatment to detainees occurred in the past. However, the failure to properly investigate any of the cases and take action against the culpable officers has been a cause of concern for the public.
In such an incident that occurred two years ago, a man named Abdulla Rasheed died in custody due to delays in providing treatment.
After an inquiry, the NIC concluded that police officers were negligent in Abdulla Rasheed's death and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General's office to press charges.
