The family of the Maldivian man who was arrested and remanded for taking a woman hostage and assaulting her, who committed suicide inside his prison cell, has raised questions regarding the circumstances surrounding his death.

Adam Athuhar was arrested for holding a woman hostage at knifepoint, threatening and assaulting her, in the capital Malé City on Thursday evening.

Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that he died while receiving treatment for critical injuries and his condition deteriorated after he attempted suicide, inside his prison cell.

Mohamed Thasmeen, the suspect’s brother spoke about the incident and noted that although it was claimed that Athuhar died by hanging, he was about six feet tall and that it was questionable how could have reached high enough to hang himself.

Thasmeen said that they were allowed to see Athuhar once, before he passed, and when they saw him after he died and was bathed for his funeral, there were no visible marks on his neck indicating that he tried to hang himself.

Adding that Athuhar died at around 04:08pm on Monday, Thasmeen stated that if he hanged himself, there would be visible red marks on his neck. However, he stressed that there were no such marks.

Stressing that the family does not want to conduct a post-mortem examination on Athuhar, Thasmeen stated that they wished to bury him as soon as possible.

According to the suspect's brother, the family met authorities and requested to see the footage showing Athuhar hanging himself.

MPS on Monday revealed that Athuhar was found hanged inside his cell, on Sunday at 07:02pm.

The police said that Athuhar was brought to the capital by speedboat at 07:14pm on Sunday night, transferred to an ambulance at 07:17pm, and taken to the emergency room of Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) at 07:25pm.

A video circulating on social media shows Athuhar being hit with a baton on his head by a police officer, in the events that led up to his arrest. He drops to the ground, taking the woman with him. Chaos breaks out after this, and officers are seen trying to gain control of the situation as a bystander helps the victim up.

Athuhar received treatment at both ADK Hospital and IGMH before being taken back to jail.

Earlier, police stated that his test results did not indicate any serious injuries.