Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen told the Parliament on Thursday that no one in his family has anything any connection to the case of a young woman found injured on the rooftop of a building in Male’ back in April, and that his phone call to the then-Commissioner of Police Ali Shujau had been intended to assist the police investigation into the case.
He made the remarks as he attended the Parliament on Thursday afternoon to provide his response to the no-confidence motion filed against him by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), accusing him of abusing his power to interfere in the police investigation into the case.
21-year-old Mariyam Yumnu was found injured on the rooftop of a warehouse in the Henveiru district at around 07:30 am on April 18. According to the police, their investigation uncovered that she fell from a skylight on the ninth-floor stairwell of the adjacent building, H. Fentenoy, but that there was no evidence of foul play – a claim that her family disputes.
Before her fall, Yumnu had been part of a group of at least nine individuals who were at Ma. Maandhooge Dhekunuge for a party, where they are believed to have possibly consumed drugs and alcohol.
The police had initially refused to name anyone else except for Yumnu. It wasn’t until six days later – on April 24 – that the police finally named eight people who had been with Yumnu in the party as persons of interest; Raudh Ahmed Zilal, 21; Izdhiyaan Mohamed Maumoon, 28; Aishath Layaaly Iqbal, 22; Yoosuf Ahmed Akram, 22; Yoosuf Yassar Abdul Ghafoor, 28; Aminath Junaina Jamsheed, 24; Hussain Hamees Ali, 28; and Ijaz Jaiz, 24.
Meanwhile, the house where the group held the party was confirmed as the family residence of Ameen, who admitted that two of his nephews – Izdhiyaan and Yoosuf Ahmed Akram - were among the group of individuals involved, but denied he knew anything about what he described as the “gathering.”
The family links between the persons of interest in Yumnu’s fall and influential figures, including Ameen, and the seemingly sluggish investigation into the case has sparked allegations of a police coverup.
On April 29, the MDP submitted a no-confidence motion against Ameen with the endorsement of the 12 parliamentarians who represent the party, just barely making the 10 endorsements required to submit a no-confidence motion against a sitting cabinet minister.
Responding to the allegations against him, Ameen said that no investigative agency has established that his nephews were involved in Yumnu’s fall, or has any connection to the incident.
He added that the police have not established that the use of narcotics or anything illegal took place at his family residence that night.
I ask MDP members to share this information with investigative agencies if they know otherwise, he said.
Ameen said that he shares his family residence with three of his siblings and their families, and does not believe he should be made to bear responsibility for anything illegal that may have taken place in another apartment of his residence just because he is a cabinet minister.
 He said that Yumnu did not fall from his family residence, but from another building.
“Maldives Police Service is not an institution under my purview. Neither is it an institution I am answerable for as a minister. And nor have I exerted any influence over [the police],” he said.
Ameen admitted that he had called the then-CP Shujau as he hosted a press briefing over the case on April 24. But he said he had called to tell him that the police did not need to wait for a court warrant to search his residence.
He described the allegations against him as “baseless.”