The Criminal Court has found foreigner Shah Alom Mia guilty of murdering local businessman Mahmood Abubakar after the latter was found dead in an abandoned house in Alifu Dhaalu Dhagethi last year.
In the hearing of the murder case that shocked the nation last October, presiding Judge Ahmed Shakeel questioned Shah Alom Mia about his confession to the murder to ensure that he made the admission without coercion.
Mahmood had confessed to both the charges against him including murder with intent as well as the abuse of a corpse.
With this, the Court decided that he was found guilty of both the charges.
Judge Shakeel said that the next stage is to determine the next of kin of the victim and that these statements would be taken at the Dhagethi court. But he said that it would take place 10 days later.
The first hearing of the case was held on the 19th of this month in which the defendant detailed how he had killed the victim by using a spiked metal rod and had stabbed Mahmood in his chest and neck. The defendant also said that he had placed sacks over the victim's head and legs before dumping his body, head first, into a well on an abandoned house on the island.
Businessman Mahmood was found dead in a well on the 14th of October 2021 after his family had reported him missing since the night before.
Police had arrested Shah Alom Mia two days later after the discovery of the body. The accused is a caretaker of an elderly man living on the island.
