Man attacked, thrown overboard for refusal to ‘pledge allegiance’

It has come to light that the young man who was stabbed and thrown overboard a local fishing boat by his co-workers was attacked after he refused to pledge allegiance to them.

The incident took place in the early hours of Friday, November 22.

The man, a 26-year-old Maldivian citizen, had swum to nearby A. A. Omadhoo in his wounded state. He was discovered calling for help by residents of the island, and was taken to the Maalhos health center at approximately 3 am.

Mohamed Riza, administrator, health services of A. A. Maalhos Health Center told Sun that the man described the attack before losing consciousness.

He told the health center workers that he was attacked and thrown overboard for refusing to pledge allegiance to something which others on the crew asked of him.

“When questioned regarding his injuries, he said that he was stabbed and thrown overboard for refusing to pledge allegiance to something the others asked of him. He was pleading for us to save his life when he lost consciousness,” said Riza.

The man did not respond when asked what the rest of the crew asked his allegiance for.

DEPSPERATE ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND AGAINST THE ATTACK

Riza told Sun that the man had stab wounds on his face, and the back of his head and neck. He also had stab wounds on his hands – believed to be defensive wounds.

“He had a huge cut on the back of his head with a sharp-edged weapon. It wasn’t deep enough to penetrate his skull, and the area wasn’t completely severed. He had wounds from his cheek – near his ears – to the back of his neck. He had a wound on his palm – between his thumb and index finger – inflicted with a sharp-edged weapon. Its most likely he grabbed the blade to ward off the attack. There are signs of attempts to tear off his lower lip. His lower lip was hanging down when he was brought in to the center. It was stitched up before he was transferred to Male’,” said Riza.

TWO HOURS FROM ATTACK TO MEDICAL ATTENTION

Riza told Sun that the man had initially attempted to walk inland after he swam ashore Omadhoo, but began calling out for help after found himself on the brink of collapse.

His calls for help were heard by a couple of young men awake at a private residence located near the Eastern end of the island.

They called the health center at 2:45 am.

Riza said that the health center was opened up, and a doctor brought in to attend to the man within five minutes of the call.

“He was wearing a thick shirt. But the shirt was dry when he was brought in to the center. His blood pressure was very low. He made it in the brink of time. It’s likely he arrived at the center approximately two hours after the attack,” said Riza.

REFUSAL TO SPECIFY THE REASON FOR THE ATTACK

One of locals who brought the man to the health center told Sun that the man refused to specify the reason for the attack.

He said that the man remained tightlipped other than to say that he was attacked and thrown overboard, and to plead for protection against his attackers.

The local said that some men came to Omadhoo at dawn claiming to be looking for a missing crew member.

The man wounded in the attack was medically evacuated to Male’ City with the assistance of MNDF on Friday morning.

The case is under investigation by the police, who now have one of the boat’s crew members under custody.

Sources report that both the injured man, and the rest of the crew of the boat – which specializes in sea cucumber fisheries – are religious extremists.