The High Court of the Republic of Maldives, in its judgment, held that the following essential elements required to establish marital rape under Section 20 of the Sexual Offences Act were present in this case.   

• Marital Relationship: In the present case, no doubts or questions were raised as to the fact that the Defendant and Ziyadha Naeem were legally married at the time of the incident.

• Exceptional circumstance: Rape is not generally recognized as an offence between spouses under Article 14 of the Sexual Offences Act. However, in exceptional circumstances, sexual intercourse between a wife and her husband without her consent is to be considered marital rape. Section 20(a)(4) of the Sexual Offences Act states that if the husband and wife, while married, are living separately based on an agreement between them and if, in such a situation, forceful penetration occurs, it qualifies as an exceptional circumstance where charges of marital rape can be pursued. In the present case, although there was no formal written agreement between the Defendant and Ziyadha Naeem, as the law does not prescribe specific requirements for such an agreement, their separate living arrangements since June 2015 can be regarded as an agreement of that nature, thus establishing the presence of the exceptional circumstance as required by the law.

• Forceful Penetration: Given the inherent challenges of obtaining eyewitnesses in cases involving sexual offences that occur behind closed doors, Section 52 of the Sexual Offences Act allows for the admissibility of hearsay evidence as primary evidence, along with other compelling corroborative evidence, to establish the occurrence of a sexual offence. In this case, to establish forceful penetration, the Appellant provided hearsay evidence through various witness testimonies of close friends and family members of Ziyadha Naeem. Mobile forensic reports were provided, documenting conversations between the Defendant and his eldest child regarding the incident. Furthermore, expert witness testimonies from Dr. Yeganegi, Dr. Hassan Umar, and nurses who treated Ziyadha Naeem provided detailed accounts of the injuries sustained to the vagina and anus, supported by other relevant medical documents. Call logs made by the Defendant to Ziyadha Naeem on 3 December 2015, along with the receipt detailing the collection time of the school booklist voucher by Ziyadha Naeem, further corroborated the chain of events.

• Lack of Consent: Witnesses provided accounts stating that Ziyadha Naeem had previously declined to engage in sexual activity with the Defendant. They testified that Ziyadha Naeem communicated to them that the Defendant had forcibly raped her on 3 December 2015 and that she had lost consciousness during the incident. These testimonies are consistent with the findings documented in the medical reports, supporting Ziyadha Naeem’s lack of consent.

Taking into account the aforementioned factors, the High Court of the Republic of Maldives overturned the judgment of the Criminal Court of the Maldives in case no. 752/Cr-C/2016 and found the Defendant guilty of martial rape, sentencing him to 3 years in prison.