Raudh’s Detention Extended by 20 Days

Raudh Ahmed Zilal, 21, arrested in connection with the case where a 21-year-old woman fell from a roof, is to be remanded under police custody for 20 additional days.

The Maldives Police Service confirmed that his detention period was extended today.

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This is the fourth time is detention period has been extended. When he was arrested on April 24, and remanded for five days. When this period was over, it was first extended by an additional ten days, and then by another five days. 

The period for his most recent extension is over today. 

Authorities initially detained him after finding inconsistencies in the statements he gave to police about the April 18 incident.

The Presidential Commission, established to investigate this incident, met with Raudh on Monday to question him.

The Context

On April 18, 2025, a 21-year-old woman was found on the roof of a warehouse in Henveiru, Male’. The police later revealed she fell from the ninth floor of Fentoniya around 4:30 a.m. that morning. She was reported to the police around 7:30 a.m. that morning, after which she had been receiving medical care in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), until she was sent to Malaysia on April 26 for additional medical treatment.

Public trust in the police has declined in relation to this case, amid accusations of interference in the investigation. Many believe that those involved are the children of individuals in high-ranking positions, and that influence may have been used to obscure the case. 

Raudh, who is the only one so far to have been arrested in connection with this case, is the last known person the woman had spent her last moments with before her fall.

Raudh is the younger brother of Daudh Ahmed Zilal, the Under Secretary for Digital Strategy at the President’s Office. Daudh was suspended from his position without pay on Thursday, April 25.

The police claim Fenotoniya is a house neither of them had any connection with, and only entered because it was unlocked. However, her family says, she has told them the couple went to the house at the invitation of Yoosuf Yassar Abdulgafoor, one of the seven others at a party with the couple earlier that evening.

Including Yassar’s, the passports of these seven individuals have been seized. They are barred from leaving the country.

The youth has been leading serial protests calling for a fair and transparent investigation into this case since Wednesday, April 24. 

Additionally, a local influencer, Shehenaz Moosa, raised over MVR 700,000 to cover her medical expenses. The youth have been holding serial protests, calling for a fair investigation into this case. Commissioner of the Police Ali Shujau resigned from his post following public pressure. The protesters have also called for the resignation of the Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihusan, and the Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Mohamed Ameen. 

The parliament submitted a notice of no-confidence to Minister Ameen in the first weekend of May.