Minister of Gender, Family and Social Services Shidhatha Shareef has admitted staff at the children's shelter lacked necessary training to address the needs of children extracted from crime scenes.
Addressing a press conference, Minister Shidhatha said a special screening has now been conducted to assess the capacity of staff at the children's shelter and any action, if necessary, would be taken, only after referring to the screening. The minister reiterated the children's shelter is not the optimal environment for a child extracted from a crime scene. However, she added this is not an excuse for the disappearance of one of the children under the shelter's care.
At the press conference, Shidhatha added, although the necessary operational procedure was not in place for the possible disappearance of a ward, such an operational procedure has now been put in place.
It has been 11 days since the disappearance of Shaim Ahmed, a boy who was under state care. He ran away, once in the past, before his disappearance on the June 17. After he ran away, he was found by police, at a crime scene, during a separate investigation. He was placed at the children's shelter, as the state did not have a facility to house children extracted from crime scenes.