Today President Solih sacked Tourism Minister on multiple Rape allegations from Ministry of Tourism staff.
Even three months back Minister of Transport Aishath Nahula, wife of coalition partner and Tourism business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim also filed a sexual abuse complain with President amid leaked phone calls of Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed.
Around 9 to 12 Tourism Ministry staff reported multiple complains of Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed on Rape and Sexual abuse with the abuse of minister.
On 8th July President met with the victims of Minister Ali Waheed in President office.
PRESIDENT HEARS IT FROM VICTIMS THEMSELVES, LEFT IN TEARS
Tourism Ministry staff attended a meeting with the President at his office earlier this Wednesday, during which they shared their experiences in detail.
Sources from within Tourism Ministry said female staff members have been subjected to sexual harassment and assault for a long time, but that it had escalated during the lockdown, until they couldn't tolerate it any longer, and decided to bring it to the attention of the President.
“Ali Waheed has sexually harassed and assaulted many of the ministry’s staff,” said one Tourism Ministry staffer who spoke condition of anonymity.
According to the source, Ali Waheed has repeatedly harassed staff members during official trips.
“He attempted to sexually assault a female staff member during a recent trip. She jumped off a water villa at the resort to escape,” said the source, who added that the staff member in question didn’t even know how to swim, but had been in such a state of panic that she had jumped into the water anyway.
“The President was in tears when he was told all this. He was speechless,” said the source.
According to the second source, some of the staff member who Ali Waheed targeted had been willing, while others had resisted.
“Sometimes he would grope them, or make some inappropriate comment,” said the source.
Ali Waheed has not responded to repeated calls and texts asking for a comment regarding the allegations against him.
PRESIDENT ASKED FOR RESIGNATION OF TOURISM MINISTER
Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on Wednesday, ordered Tourism Minister Ali Waheed to resign from the Cabinet, following multiple complaints of sexual misconduct.
President’s spokesperson Ibrahim Hood said the President ordered Ali Waheed’s resignation this Wednesday night, after Tourism Ministry staff raised complaints over “multiple incidents of misconduct at the workplace” with the President and Gender Ministry.
“The President ordered Minister of Tourism Mr. Ali Waheed to resign from his post in response to this tonight,” said Hood.
ALI WAHEED UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION BY POLICE
Maldives Police Service has issued a statement announcing they have opened a criminal investigation into “a case involving sexual abuse of female staff members at Tourism Ministry”.
A police spokesperson said the case was lodged on Wednesday night, and that additional information will be released as the investigation progresses.
The allegations of sexual misconduct against Ali Waheed come after an audio recording believed to be of a phone conversation between him and Transport Minister Aishath Nahula leaked over social media earlier this year, in which he is heard making inappropriate comments.
It had been part of a series of similar audio recordings, and had sparked demands for his resignation at the time.
However, he had dismissed the audio recordings as “fake” and “slander”.
resident Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has officially dismissed Tourism Minister Ali Waheed from the post after multiple accounts of misconduct surfaced against the Minister last night.
PRESIDENT DISSMISSED TOURISM MINISTER TODAY
President's Office spokesperson Ibrahim Hood confirmed the dismissal on Twitter.
Hood had announced last night that the President had demanded Ali Waheed’s resignation after hearing of the allegations against him straight from the victims themselves.
But since he refused to resign, President dismissed him dishonorably for the serious allegations of rape and sexual abuse with compelling evidence.
Reference Link : https://en.sun.mv/61589