‘Mentally-ill’ foreign woman restrained by police

A foreign woman, thought to be mentally-ill, was restrained by police outside a mosque in Malé on Wednesday night.

Police said that officers out on patrol were asked to help restrain a woman near the Sosun magu – Ameer Ahmed Hingun junction in Henveiru ward at around 7pm on Wednesday. The woman, of Caucasian appearance and seemingly middle aged, is a patient at ADK hospital, from where she had apparently run away.

“A mentally-ill person taken for treatment to ADK hospital disobeyed helpers and fled the hospital. At around 19:08, a police beat near the Sosun magu Ameer Ahmed junction was asked to help take the person back to the hospital,” a police spokesperson told the media.

The woman was restrained by police and taken back to the hospital in a police vehicle, police said.

The police did not identify the patient as a foreign woman, but a video posted on social media shows three police officers restraining a caucasian woman at the entrance of Iskandharu mosque.

The woman was shouting “Help me please!”, as the officers restrained her, with a struggle but using a minimum of force. Two Caucasian men were with the woman and helped officers restrain her.

Police said there was no disturbance inside the mosque – despite local media reports to the contrary.

“She was a mentally-ill person. There was no disorder inside the mosque,” a police spokesperson told the Maldives Independent. 

ADK hospital did not comment further on the incident.