A 52-year-old Maldivian man has been sentenced to 32 years in prison by a court for sexually abusing his stepdaughter for over a year. The incident happened in the southern city of Fuvahmulah city in the Maldives. 

According to a report in Sun news, the man had abused his minor stepdaughter between May 2019 to July 2020. Police arrested him in July last year and pressed four charges--three under the Special Provisions Act on Child Sex offenders. 

The court found him guilty of all four charges and awarded him a 32-year-old prison sentence. 

The issue of sexual abuse of children in the Maldives came to the forefront last year when a high-profile case, involving the sexual abuse of a two-year-old girl came into the limelight. Since then, law enforcement agencies in the country have been receiving multiple complaints of child sex abuses, mostly involving their own relative. 

Following furry of cases, the government has, on many occasions, reiterated that the administration would opt for a zero-tolerance policy towards child sex abuse. 

In 2019, police have reported over 1200 cases of abuse and violence against children, according to a report by UNICEF. However, most violence is not reported because children are not believed, families are ashamed, or children do not know that what happened to them was wrong.