Authorities have started an investigation after a six-year-old boy with cerebral palsy died due to a failure to provide adequate treatment.
The Children's Ombudsperson's Office and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) said they were looking into the matter.
The HRCM said they will look into whether the child was treated promptly and whether he was guaranteed the right to life and adequate health care.
The Ombudsperson's Office said an investigation will be carried out, but did not provide any details.
Ibrahim Azaan Suheil passed away on Wednesday (March 25). In a post on social media before his death, Azaan's mother said the state failed to provide her son with a crucial feeding tube.
"My son needs a PEG [percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy] tube to feed. I ordered two PEG tubes from STO [State Trading Organisation] last year. I still haven't received them. Now, it's been eight months. I've called STO and gone to the STO pharmacy in Hulhumale' many times. We need to urgently change the PEG tube now. I am hopeless. I can't get it from any pharmacy," she said in the Facebook post on March 16.
Nine days after Azaan’s mother posted her concerns on social media, a private party tried to reach out to her to provide the PEG tube. But she told him that her son was now in critical condition and could not use the tube that had been provided by the state.
"My son is barely alive. He is breathing his last. At IGMH [India Gandhi Memorial Hospital]. The other day, IGMH procurement called and said it had been received. We have got it. But now it is too late. It can't be connected when in critical condition," she wrote in her message, which was posted on social media X.
