Husband and mistress charged in murder of IGMH nurse

The Prosecutor General’s Office has filed murder charges against the husband and mistress in connection to the death of Grace Oned Pineda, a Filipino nurse who worked at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) last year. 

Mary was killed in her apartment on the first floor of Ma. Udhuheykokaage in Male’ City on the afternoon of October 19, 2021. 

Prosecutor General’s Office filed murder charges against Mary’s husband Marvin S. Y. Vargas, 30, and his mistress Haleemath Lamha Abdul Rahman, 24, with the Criminal Court on Tuesday. 

Both Marvin and Lamha had also worked as nurses at IGMH. 

According to PGO’s spokesperson, Public Prosecutor Ahmed Shafeeu, Marvin and Lamha are accused of premeditated murder. 

Marvin is accused of injuring Mary’s head and neck, and strangling her to death, while Lamha is accused of co-conspiring with Marvin to murder Mary, and assisting in and facilitating her murder. She is also accused of unauthorized possession of syringes.  

Marvin was charged with murder with intent under Section 110 (d) of the Penal Code, with reference to Section 110 (a). 

He faces minimum 10 years in prison if convicted of the charge. 

Lamha was pressed with three charges, including as an accomplice to murder with intent under Section 110 (d) and Section 30 (d) (2) of the Penal Code with reference to Section 110 (a) and Section 30 (a) (3). 

She faces minimum 6 years in prison if convicted of the charge. 

She was also charged on with knowingly taking unauthorized control over the property of another under Section 210 (b) (5) of the Penal Code with reference to Section 211 (a), after police found two syringes from IGMH which she had not been authorized to take out of the hospital hidden in an envelope in her bedroom. 

She faces minimum two months and 24 days in prison if convicted of the charge. 

She was also charged with carrying out an activity that requires permission from an authority, without obtaining permission from the relevant authority under Section 613 (c) (4) of the Penal Code with reference to Section 613 (b), after police found a type of drug issued only for the use of hospitals and health facilities during a search of her bedroom. 

She faces minimum two months and 12 days in prison if convicted of the charge. 

Lamha admitted to her affair with Marvin in an interview to Sun last year. She claimed they ended their relationship a day before Mary’s death, but got back together again. 

It had been Marvin who had taken Mary’s body to IGMH in an ambulance on October 19. He initially claimed her death as a suicide by hanging, and later changed his story and said she had suddenly collapsed. 

Police found the death suspicious and opened an investigation into the case.  

Police arrested Marvin on October 27, 2021 and Lamha on December 16, 2021. 

Both Marvin and Lamha had also worked as nurses at IGMH.