Rape of toddler condemned as 'an unimaginable act of animals'

Former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has joined the ranks of people voicing condemnation over the rape of a two-year-old girl in Southern Maldives, a crime which he describes as “an act of animals”.

The suspects in the case are the child’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Maumoon, who rarely makes public comments in response to crimes, retweeted an article regarding the news this Friday.

“An unimaginable act of animals,” said Maumoon.

The culprits need to be meted out the strictest punishment possible by law, he added.

According to residents of the island where the crime took place, the parents of the child were both drug addicts, and she had been left alone with her father after her mother had to be taken to Male’ City due to medical emergency related to her drug addiction on January 13.

The child’s aunt had offered to take care of her with her mother away in Male’, but the father had refused, and kept the child in his home, an all-male residence.

The crime came to light on Wednesday, while the child’s aunt had been cleaning her after she went to the toilet. The child complained of pain in her genitals. When asked how she injured her genitals, the child told her aunt it had been her father who hurt her.

She was immediately rushed to the hospital, where the doctors confirmed her injuries to be consistent with sexual assault.

The crime is currently under investigation by the Maldivian authorities, and the victim has been taken into the custody of Gender Ministry.

It is unclear whether any arrests have been made in connection to the case.