Supreme Court has ruled that the High Court ordered the release of the man suspected of attacking his wife with a knife in an attempted murder, unlawfully.
The incident, in which a Maldivian man threatened his wife with a knife, took place on a central island of the Maldives in 2024.
The hearings in the case are being held behind closed doors, as such, not much information has been disclosed.
However, the suspect had initially been remanded in custody pending the outcome of his trial by a lower court. He subsequently appealed the decision to the High Court, which, in December, freed the man after overturning the lower court’s decision. The prosecution appealed his release to the Supreme Court.
Last week, the Supreme Court quashed the High Court’s decision, concurring with the lower court’s decision to remand the suspect in custody pending the outcome of his trial.
The appeal was heard by a three-justice bench comprising of Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain, Justice Abdulla Hameed and Justice Mohamed Saleem. All three justices unanimously agreed that the High Court overturned the suspect’s remand order unlawfully.
Sun has learned that the remand order was issued during the trial in the case.
The prosecution has filed four charges against the suspect: violation of a restraining order under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, trespassing under the Penal Code, violence using a sharp-edged weapon and threatening to harm person’s life or body under the Prohibition of Issuance of Threats and Possession of Dangerous and Sharp Weapons Act.
All four charges were filed in 2024.