3 months after Shiau's murder; probe going nowhere
Shiau, 22, was found murdered inside an apartment on the ninth floor of Shireen Villa residence on August 6.
Three months after the death of Shiau Mohamed Saeed, who was found brutally murdered inside a house in Male, the investigation is still going on and the chargesheet is yet to be forwarded, police said Tuesday.
At a press conference on October 15, the police had said that they would forward the case to the Prosecutor General's Office seeking prosecution within two weeks, but they are yet to send a chargesheet in the case.
Shiau, 22, was found murdered inside an apartment on the ninth floor of Shireen Villa residence on August 6. On the same night, her friend Ali Sahil, who lived in a room in the same apartment, was arrested for the murder. He has been in custody for the past three months.
Superintendent of Police Fathimath Nashwa, who heads the police's media unit, told Atoll Times on Tuesday that the ongoing investigation was to gain access to Sahil's mobile phone and analyse the data on it.
"After sending Sahil's phone abroad and gaining access to it, we have now got the data on it. We are analysing the information to identify the motive," Nashwa said.
In cases of involving weapons, only 15 days are available for investigation.
However, public prosecutor and spokesman for the PG office, Ahmed Shafiu, told Atoll Times on Tuesday that the deadline was being extended every 15 days.
"As per law, we get only 15 days to investigate such cases. But if the police ask, we can extend it for 15 days every 15 days," Shafiu said.
Nashwa said the chargesheet would be forwarded to the PG before the deadline.
"We will soon send the case to the PG for prosecution," Nashwa said.
Inspector of Police Mohamed Samih, who heads the Death and Homicide Investigation Department, said at a press conference held on October 15:
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That there was enough evidence against Sahil to charge him with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the Shiau murder case
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he said he believed that such a case could be filed in the court of law
Speaking at the press conference, Superintendent Hassan Saeed, who heads the serious and organised crime department, said they had found reasons to believe that Shiau had been murdered, but added that more evidence would be needed as the case could not be sent to trial on the basis of only credible facts. He had said at the time that enough evidence to confirm the reason could only be obtained with information on the phone.
