Sunny Umar charged with sexual offences involving 3 children

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has filed five charges against Sunny Umar in connection with the alleged sexual assault of three children.

Sunny Umar, who operates a travel agency and media outlets under the Maldives Halal Travel brand and related brands, was arrested late last year.

The charges were filed at the Criminal Court on Monday. Sunny remains in custody pending trial.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the charges include three counts of touching the body of a child with sexual intent, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of providing false information to an official agency.

The three charges relating to sexual intent involve children of different ages.

One charge relates to touching a child with sexual intent before the age of seven. Another charge relates to touching a child with sexual intent at the age of 10. The third charge relates to touching a child with sexual intent at the age of nine or 10.

The child under seven is a boy, while the other two children are girls.

The basic sentence for each charge of touching the body of a child with sexual intent ranges from 10 to 14 years in prison.

The obstruction of justice charge relates to an allegation that Sunny did not hand over his phone despite being ordered by the Criminal Court to do so. The basic sentence for the offence is one year, seven months and six days in prison.

He is also charged with providing false information to an official body after allegedly giving incorrect information to police about the SIM number and type of SIM card used in the phone believed to be in his possession. The basic sentence for this offence is four months and 24 days in prison.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said it will request the court to impose the maximum sentence for the offences.

If the maximum penalties are imposed, Sunny could face a total sentence of up to 44 years in prison, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office.