Police seek postmortem after custodial death

Police are seeking to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death of a 23-year-old woman who passed away Tuesday at the custodial centre on Dhoonidhoo island.

The Human Rights Commission and National Integrity Commission have been informed of the death and asked to launch investigations, police said in a statement, declining to disclose her identity.

Assistance was also requested from the watchdog bodies to consult with the family of the deceased in order to conduct a postmortem.

The woman was arrested over a reported theft.

She was taken to a doctor twice and provided with treatment at the detention island, police said.

The authorities faced allegations of negligence over several prison deaths in recent years.

A commission formed after the new administration took office in November to audit jails is looking into some of the cases.

In the wake of the latest custodial death, NGO Maldivian Democracy Network urged the government to acknowledge the “crucial need for a medical examiner and the facilities to determine what leads to death in custody.”

“Too many deaths are signed off as ‘stroke’ or ‘heart failure’. This is sadly insufficient,” the human rights group said.