Gender Minister Shidhaathaa Shareef was summoned for questioning by the parliament's committee of Human Rights and Gender on Saturday night with regard to the disappearance of the minor Shaim Abdulla,14, who was under state care. The meeting was held behind closed doors.
Police have been searching for Shaim for the past nine days. Shaim went missing while he was at the children's' shelter in Villingili. Gender minster admitted that negligence on part of the Gender Ministry as well as shelter employees led to the disappearance of Shaim.
It was decided that the meeting will be held behind closed doors due to the sensitive nature of the case as Shaim Abdulla is a minor. The committee members took a vote to decide on conducting the meeting behind closed doors.
Shaim went missing while he was undergoing an assessment at the Villimale' Childrens' Shelter after he 'fled' the facility. Although a missing persons case was filed after his disappearance, it was not disclosed that the boy was under state care at the time of the incident.
However, the information came to light when a court order issued by the Juvenile court to locate the boy was leaked on social media, which mentioned that the boy was at the shelter at the time of disappearance.
The first comments regarding the case were made by both the police and Gender Ministry after the authorities were bombarded with questions from the media following the new information.
While the Gender Ministry and Minister Shidhaathaa have come under fire over Shaim's disappearance, a news conference was held by Gender Ministry earlier this week during which Shidhaathaa disclosed detailed information regarding Shaim's private, which prompted further public outrage.
