Police have asked the Prosecutor General's (PG) office to press charges against Raudh Ahmed Zilal, 22, arrested in connection with the fall of Hawwa Yumnu Rasheed, 21, from Henveiru Fentenoy house on April 18.
PG office confirmed that the case had been sent for prosecution. PG office spokesperson and public prosecutor Ahmed Shafeeu told Adhadhu that a decision would be reached within 15 days.
“We will accept Raudh's case and decide whether to prosecute him within 15 days,” Shafeeu said.
Police want to charge Raudh with being intoxicated and not providing assistance to a person in need of help.
The offence of not assisting a person in need and its punishment are mentioned in Article 618 of the Penal Code. The Article (a) states that the person who does so is committing an offence in the following circumstances:
- Failure to warn the person in danger without reasonable cause
- Failure to assist the person in need without reasonable cause
- Be in a position to assist and be in a position to warn
- Be in a position to assist or warn without physical assistance
- Be able to warn or assist without having to abandon a responsibility entrusted by law or under a contract
The Article (b) classifies failure to assist as a third-degree offence. The basic punishment for a third-degree offence is one month and six days in jail. The maximum penalty for the offence is three months in prison.
Raudh, who was arrested on April 24, has been in police custody for 32 days. So this means he is unlikely to spend much time in prison even if convicted of the charge.
Police and witness statements, photo reports, scene of crime officers' reports and other evidence have been submitted against him.
Background
Raudh was with Yumnu before her fall from the ninth floor of Fentenoy house on April 18.
Police initially said that no one else was believed to have been involved in the fall.
Raudh was not arrested in connection with the incident, but was taken to the police station for questioning. His urine tested positive for drugs at the time. But police did not arrest him.
However, after criticism of the police response, Raudh was arrested on April 24 and police said he was accused of involvement in Yumnu's fall. Police also alleged that Raudh knew that Yumnu had fallen.
There have been major errors made by the police in this case.
These include lying about the CCTV cameras in Fentenoy house, not searching locations connected to the incident, including the residence of Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen and the residence of a third person involved in the case.
Police went to search these locations six days after the incident. After the search, police said nothing related to the case was found in the two houses. The video footage of the house where Minister Ameen lives had also been damaged.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has set up a presidential commission to investigate the incident. The main purpose of the commission is to find out the truth. The commission was established on April 26.
