Family refuses Athuhar’s death as suicide, police seek to convince family for autopsy

The family of the accused kidnapper, Adam Athuhar has refused his cause of death as suicide.

Athuhar, who had attempted to flee law enforcement authorities by kidnapping his lover, and holding her hostage at knife point last Thursday, was admitted to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital’s (IGMH) Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on Sunday evening, after he was discovered hanging in his prison cell.

While the family his body did not indicate any signs of strangulation from hanging, they have refused to conduct autopsy on the now Athuhar’s body.

Athuhar, who was found strangling by the neck in his prison cell at Dhoonidhoo custodial, was pronounced dead around 16:08hrs on Monday afternoon.

Following his demise, Maldives Police Service said it intended to conduct autopsy on his body to identify cause of death.

A family member of Athuhar, who spoke with ‘Sun’ said there were no signs of strangling on his body, and said there were no reasons to believe Athuhar had committed suicide by hanging.

The family member further said that his family wishes for prompt burial.

Police said it would meet with Athuhar’s family around 21:00hrs on Monday evening to convince them on conducting autopsy.

The authority also extended details of their conduct on Sunday evening after discovering Athuhar hanging in his prison cell. It took the authority 23 minutes to transfer Athuhar from Dhoonidhoo Custodial, where he was held in remand, to IGMH in Male’ City, police added.

Last Thursday, Athuhar had attempted to evade law enforcement authorities by holding his lover hostage with a knife. He threatened to kill the hostage if officers on the scene tried to intervene his escape.

During the commotion, officers had sneaked up to him from behind and used force to neutralize the situation. The video of the incident shared across social media showed an officer using a baton to hit Athuhar on the head to immobilize him. The kidnapper sustained injuries during the scuffle, and was first transferred to ADK Hospital for treatment.

He was later admitted to IGMH Hospital’s observation after Athuhar began vomiting, and was arrested upon discharge. The court ordered Athuhar to be remanded until verdict, and was transferred to Dhoonidhoo Custodial.

Police had taken him to IGMH on Sunday evening after foiling his suicide attempt. He was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for treatment.

While police said it is looking into the matter, the authority said it intends to conduct an autopsy to identify the cause of death.

Police also assured cooperation to the investigations carried out by independent institutions, that include the National Integrity Commission (NIC) and the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM).