The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) used its supermajority in the Parliament on Thursday to reject a no-confidence motion filed against Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) over allegations he abused his authority to interfere in a police investigation into the case of a young woman found injured on the rooftop of a building in Male’ back in April.
The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) used its supermajority in the Parliament on Thursday to reject a no-confidence motion filed against Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) over allegations he abused his authority to interfere in a police investigation into the case of a young woman found injured on the rooftop of a building in Male’ back in April.
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.
The eight people who were with Mariyam Yumnu before she fell from a building in Male' on April 18, 2025.
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 same day, the police arrested Raudh, who had been with Yumnu in the last moments before her fall, for lack of cooperation. They also filed for court warrants to search the other two residences that Yumnu had been in before she went to Fentenoy – Ma. Maandhooge Dhekunu and G. Kashiveli.
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.
The motion was rejected with a majority vote of 54-11 on Wednesday afternoon.
The vote took place shortly after Ameen attended the Parliament to provide his response to the allegations against him.
Addressing parliamentarians, Ameen said he does not belief he needs to tender his resignation in connection to the case.
He said that no investigative agency has established that his nephews were involved in Yumnu’s fall, or has any connection to the incident.
Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen responds to the no-confidence motion against him at the Parliament on May 15, 2025. (Photo/People's Majlis)
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-Commissioner of Police Ali Shujau as he hosted a press briefing over the case on April 24. But he said he had called to tell Shujau – who later resigned under pressure - that the police did not need to wait for a court warrant to search his residence.
He described the allegations against him as “baseless.”
MDP’s motion refers to the alleged drug use at Ameen’s family residence, and the involvement of two of his nephews in the case.
Youths protest for a third straight night demanding justice for Mariyam Yumnu on April 25, 2025. (Sun Photo/Hussain Hafiz)
MDP alleges that the police were directed to hide the involvement of Ameen’s residence and his nephews, noting the police did not name any of the other persons involved or confirm that the group met at Ameen’s residence until six days later.
The day before the MDP filed the motion, the police said that they had been unable to obtain CCTV footage from Ameen’s residence because they were told that the cameras in the house were broken.
The case of Yumnu, who spent nearly three hours on the rooftop of a warehouse before a neighbor saw her and alerted the authorities, has sparked serial protests in Male’.
The protestors, a vast majority of them young men and women, have been demanding justice for her, and the resignation of top government and police officials over the alleged coverup, including Ameen and Home Minister Ali Ihusan.
The police have said that both Yumnu and Raudh were heavily intoxicated at the time, and had both tested positive for narcotics. Clips of CCTV footage shared by police show Yumnu appeared to have trouble walking, and even fell down on the ground at one point.
The case is now the subject of an inquiry by a five-member presidential commission.