Police have arrested three people, including a minister and an official of the president’s office, on the charge of using “black magic” on the president of the Maldives, Mohammad Muijju. Officials informed about the arrest last Thursday.
The arrested minister’s name is Fatima Shamnaz Ali Salim. He is the Minister of State for Environment, Climate Change and Energy.
According to the police, Fatima Shamnaz Ali Salim and two other officials were arrested last Sunday from Male in the capital.
Officials said Shamnaz has been remanded for a week. Investigation is going on against him. However, the police did not give any details about his arrest.
Meanwhile, according to the report of the local media of Maldives, The Sun, it is said that Fatima was arrested because of applying black magic on President Muijju. However, the police neither admitted nor denied the truth of this report.
Maldives is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. That is why the Ministry of Fatima is very important for the country. UN environmental experts have warned that the country could become virtually uninhabitable by the end of this century due to rising sea levels.
The practice of witchcraft is not a criminal offense in the Muslim-majority Maldives. However, Islamic law in the country stipulates a six-month prison sentence for practicing witchcraft.
In April 2023, a 62-year-old woman was stabbed to death by three neighbors for allegedly practicing black magic in the Manadhu region of the Maldives. After a long investigation, the police said that no evidence was found that the deceased woman practiced witchcraft.
Maldives is strategically located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The country is one of the world’s busiest east-west shipping lanes. As a result, Delhi and Beijing want to establish their respective zones in the country in geopolitical calculations.
Muhammad Muijju was elected President of Maldives in the elections held in September last year. He was the mayor of the capital Mall. He was born on 15 June 1978. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Leeds, UK. He entered politics in 2012. He was appointed Minister of Housing in the unity government formed after the fall of the Maldives’ first democratically elected government following a police and military mutiny.
