“I want to leave Malé as soon as possible…”
23 year old Samir was killed when he was stabbed multiple times in the chest by men on motorcycles on Janavaree Magu in Malé on Monday. Sameer’s friend, who was nearby when the stabbing occurred, said he heard him scream before seeing Sameer lying bleeding and unconscious. “Revenge is coming,” he said. “There is more. It’s not going to stop because gangs are ready to kill anyone they want”. “I have to protect my wife who is pregnant and my grandmother...Male’ is not a safe place,” he says. The 24 year old man, who did not want to be identified, said on Tuesday that Malé is no longer safe to live in because of the increased rate of gang related violence over the past year. Other gang murders have triggered revenge attacks and sources close to the victim have also indicated the likelihood of further confrontations. Another friend of Sameer said he believed that more violence is expected.
Deputy home minister Abdullah Waheed said he found the latest incident of gang violence “very depressing” but said he believed that it was “basically a police matter”. Basically a police matter? It surely is not just “basically a police matter”. It is an awfully grave matter concerning the security of the citizens living in the capital island Malé. The police said people living in the neighborhood were “unwilling” to speak because of a fear of reprisals. Ahen Dhivehi Raajje is not safe till the gang violence is brought to an end.
Source: Minivan News
Please read related blog post: Violence Escalating in Malé
The peaceful capital we once knew has become awfully grim. It is no secret that gang violence is escalating in the capital island of Maldives. In most incidents, with the intention of seriously harming or most likely killing, masked men armed with box cutters, knives, iron rods and wooden poles attacked the victims. Theft, pickpocket, criminal damage and hate crime are areas we the citizens of Maldives are very much concerned about. The crime rate increases day by day while the police are helpless finding a solution to this barbaric behavior.
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