A mother arrested this week after her baby was found abandoned on a pavement in Male’ has requested custody of the child, Police have said.
According to the Head of Family and Child Protection Hasssan Shifau, the mother of the abandoned baby is still in police custody. Authorities have added that any decision to hand over the child would be made by the Gender Ministry.
State Gender Minister Aishath Rameela told local media on Friday (December 28) that a decision on whether to grant custody of the child to the mother had yet to be made.
Rameela stated that the ministry would have to find out if the mother had suffered any physical or psychological trauma before she abandoned the infant.
“Either way we will hold the woman responsible for negligence. So for the time being we will not handover the baby to her,” Rameela said.
According to local newspaper Haveeru the child is to be taken to a children’s shelter in Villimale after being released from hospital.
