The Criminal Court on Sunday (November 2) acquitted Mohamed Fauzan of murdering Ali Hassan ‘Ayyube’ in Dhaalu Kudahuvadhoo in January 2012.
The court decided that the evidence submitted by the prosecution was insufficient to prove Fauzan was guilty of murdering the 76-year-old.
In March 2013, two minors charged with Ayyube’s murder pleaded guilty to aiding the murder in court. The two minors were charged with spying on Ayyube before the murder, and assisting the assailants to hide the murder weapon.
The Juvenile Court subsequently sentenced the pair to death.
Ayyube’s body was discovered with multiple stab wounds in an abandoned house on Kudahuvadhoo on January 8, 2013. Police arrested six individuals in connection to the case.
The victim had previously been accused of using sorcery on Fauzan’s 37 year-old mother. She was reported missing at 2am on December 4, 2011 and her body was found floating in Kudahuvadhoo lagoon later that morning.
