The Criminal Court has decided to proceed with the trial of Marvin Vargas without hearing testimony from his defence witnesses, after his friends failed to appear in court for a second time.
Marvin, a Filipino national, is on trial for the intentional homicide of his wife, Filipino nurse Mary Grace. He is being tried separately from Maldivian nurse Haleemath Lamha, who is also charged in the case. Prosecutors allege that Lamha, who was romantically involved with Marvin, conspired in the murder.
Marvin had submitted five Filipino nationals residing in the Maldives as character witnesses. However, only one appeared in court to testify. With the others repeatedly failing to attend, the court has now decided to forgo their testimony.
It is understood that Marvin’s mother had been coordinating efforts to bring the witnesses to court, but they reportedly stopped answering her calls.
Murdered Flipino nurse working at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), Mary Grace Oned Pineda and her husband Marvin S. Y. Vargas, who was also working as a nurse in IGMH has been charged with her murder.
Mary Grace was killed on October 19, 2021, after sustaining injuries to her head and neck and being suffocated. If convicted, both Marvin and Lamha face a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.