The family of 65-year-old Abdul Rahman Adam, who was brutally murdered in Alif Alif Maalhos on July 13, has denied the sorcery allegations against him.
Ahmed Nimal, one of his three children, told Adhadhu that the sorcery allegations against his father were a blatant lie.
"It's definitely untrue. It's an old custom on the island to do readings to predict the future. The allegations are related to something like that. But no one can tell me what my father did or where he went at what time to do the sorcery," the 29-year-old said.
Nimal said he tried to find out the truth when the allegations surfaced last year and secretly searched his father's bedroom and other parts of the house.
"I am also against witchcraft. When I heard the allegations, I searched the house, my mother's room and my father's room," Nimal said.
"I didn't even ask my father because if it was true, he could hide any related items... Then I asked mother and she said she didn't know anything about it."
Adhadhu journalists who visited Maalhos after Abdul Rahman's killing met some people who spoke about the sorcery allegations.
They said some islanders had seen him doing witchcraft, but Adhadhu journalists did not meet anyone who had actually witnessed it.
Police have not been able to determine Abdul Rahman's killer and the exact motive behind the brutal killing.
His body will be taken to India for a post-mortem on July 21. A police forensic and homicide department team went to the island on July 13 to investigate the case.
