News Desk
MALE’, Maldives — President Dr. Mohammed Muizzu has dissolved a presidential commission that investigated the April 18, 2025, fall of Hawwa Yumnu Rasheed, a 21-year-old woman who plummeted from a ninth-floor stairwell window of H. Fentenoy, a residential building in Henveiru. The commission, led by former Attorney General Dr. Mohamed Munawwar, completed its mandate, a rare achievement for such bodies in the Maldives, delivering a comprehensive report that deemed the incident likely accidental while exposing critical flaws in the police investigation and inappropriate actions by senior government officials.
The commission’s report, finalized after 40 sittings and an exhaustive review of 49 audiovisual documents, 81 police files, 14 CCTV recordings, and 12 additional documents, found no evidence of foul play or suicide in Rasheed’s fall. Rasheed, who survived with serious injuries and was flown to Malaysia for treatment, was accompanied that night by Raud Ahmed Zilal, who claimed memory lapses in his statement.
The commission ruled out the possibility that Zilal intentionally caused her fall, citing four undisclosed factors supporting its conclusion. Efforts to engage Rasheed’s family proved futile. Her brother, Mumin Mohamed, rebuffed the commission, expressing distrust in its findings and demanding an independent investigation.
The family’s refusal to cooperate underscored public skepticism about the inquiry’s impartiality, despite its thoroughness. The commission, which included Brigadier General (Ret.) Ahmed Mohammed, Dr. Moosa Murad, Jabeen Mohamed, and Aminath Enaas, not only clarified the circumstances of the incident but also highlighted systemic issues.
It criticized the Maldives Police Service for investigative lapses and pointed to misconduct by senior officials, urging reforms to law enforcement protocols and ministerial oversight.
Presidential commissions in the Maldives rarely fulfill their mandates, often dissolving amid political pressures or incomplete work. Dr. Munawwar’s leadership, however, steered this inquiry to completion, delivering findings that aim to provide closure while pressing for accountability.
