The commission that investigated the incident of Hawwa Yumna Rasheed falling from a building in Male’ has stated in their published report that there were many instances of police negligence in the investigation, and it is important to look into and take action against individual police officers who were careless in the matter. The report states that information about this incident was given to the Investigation Officer (IO) about an hour later, and by the time the IO arrived at the scene, the officer at the scene had already collected and finished gathering the evidence and clues needed for the investigation. As a result, the report states that complete information and evidence needed for the investigation were not obtained.
Although MNDF Fire and Rescue and Paramedic teams arrived at the scene within a reasonable time, the commission found that the crime scene was not secured as the police had not taped off and established a boundary. The report also states that although it is known that Yumna was on the 7th, 8th, and 9th floors of H. Fentenoey that night, in addition to those three floors, the roof of H. Mitaaz where Yumna had fallen was also not properly examined, and Crime Scene Officer Sergeant Azhad Hassan Manik left the scene within a short period of time.
Later that evening, although the police went there to find additional evidence needed for the investigation, they did not even climb onto the roof of Mitaaz to see if any evidence could be found there. The commission also noted that the interior of Mitaaz, which houses a warehouse, is also an important area, but the police had not examined the inside of that warehouse. Along with this, the report states that to prevent such negligence from recurring on the part of the police, officers from those departments need to be re-familiarized with their SOPs and further trained.”
