Elderly Woman Targeted in Street Robbery in Malé
Street of Male’ city | Photo: MV+
A video has surfaced showing a young man stealing a purse from an elderly woman walking along Kinbigas Magu, behind the Henveiru cemetery in Malé, yesterday.
CCTV footage recorded at 9:04 am shows the woman carrying a black bag and a black purse while walking along the road. A man dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans followed her closely before rushing forward and snatching the purse. The footage also shows the woman attempting to follow him immediately after the theft.
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The video was made public by local resident Basil Mohamed, who identified the victim as his mother. Authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the matter.
Concerns have been growing over an apparent rise in street robberies across the capital, with residents reporting such incidents occurring at an increasingly frequent rate.
In a separate case, a man with a history of petty theft and robbery has once again been arrested. Mohamed Naveen, of G. Beruge, was detained after stealing a chocolate bar from a local shop. He was presented before the Criminal Court on Friday, where he was remanded in custody for 15 days.
Court records indicate that Naveen has faced multiple arrests in the past. He was taken into custody in September last year on suspicion of robbing a Bangladeshi man of his phone and MVR 9,000 while posing as an immigration officer. In May of the same year, he was also arrested for a similar offence.
Additionally, a case was filed against him in 2023 for the alleged theft of a motorcycle. He denied the charges in that instance and was not convicted.
The recurring nature of these incidents has prompted renewed calls for stronger measures to address theft and street crime in the capital.
