Young man found unconscious with injuries dies at hospital

A young man found unconscious with injuries near the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Malé on Thursday morning has died while undergoing treatment.

A spokesperson for the government-run hospital told The Maldives Independent the man died Thursday night after doctors declared him “brain dead.”

Local media has identified the deceased as Moosa Nashid from the southern island of Fuvahmulah. He was reportedly found with injuries on his shoulders and the back of his neck.

A police media official said Nashid was found unconscious around 9:30am in the area recently closed off to traffic near IGHM’s emergency gate.

Nashid’s family told online paper Avas that he was assaulted by a group in a murder attempt.

But the police spokesperson said the death is not being treated as a murder investigation yet, adding that the investigation is open and ongoing.

The apparent murder is the third of 2016.

Hawwa Zuha, 23, was murdered and left on a narrow lane in Malé in early January. On March 2, a 47-year-old businessman was found dead in a taro field in the southern Addu City.

Suspects have been arrested in both cases.

Some 32 people have lost their lives to violent crime in the Maldives since 2010. At least eight were killed in 2015.

In October, a 26-year-old man found unconscious with severe injuries at a residence in Malé died while undergoing treatment at IGMH.

Ahmed Zameen from the island of Thoddoo in Alif Alif atoll was found at the stairwell on the sixth floor of Moosun Bahaaruge in the Maafanu ward of the capital.

The police have not determined whether Zameen died of injuries sustained either in an assault or an accidental fall.

According to the hospital,  Zameen had sustained severe head injuries and a CT scan revealed internal bleeding.

His father told local media that the nature of Zameen’s injuries suggest he was murdered, noting that his son had no connection to the house where he was discovered. The family was unaware of anyone who bore him animosity, he said.