Maldives Police Service (MPS) on Friday arrested a 53-year-old man accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy, and launched an investigation into the matter.
According to the police, the incident was reported to the Upper North Police Division, which comprises Haa Alifu, Has Dhaalu, and Shaviyani atolls. The suspect was apprehended at 0120 hrs on Friday early morning.
Police confirmed that the matter is now under investigation, although they did not disclose further details regarding the island and the atoll in which the crime took place, to protect the identity of the victim.
Authorities have reported a sharp rise in the number of sexual abuse cases involving children since mid-January of this year, including the shocking case of sexual abuse of a two-year-old toddler in January.
Based on reports, MPS have to date made several arrests in connection to the cases, and maintained that investigations were underway.
An investigation by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Gender into child abuse cases reported to the police over the past 15 years, published in February revealed that only 390 out of a total of 3,100 of all child abuse cases reported to the police reached a conviction.
Their investigation also found that, over the 15-year period, a conviction was not reached in 488 cases.
Furthermore, the parliamentary investigation noted considerable delays in both police investigations and court procedure, revealing that 70 percent of all concluded cases from the last 15 years took more than a year to complete.