A British woman who was arrested for wearing a bikini in the Maldives breaking sharia law appeared on the TV shows First Dates and Ninja Warrior UK and is a ‘parliamentary adviser’.
When Cecilia Jastrzembska was manhandled and arrested on the island of Maafushi, she screamed on the police personals, ‘you’re sexually assaulting me’.
And the footage of the arrest had emerged, after which the chief of police in the Maldives had to apologize for the incident. The footage that got viral shows that three men scuffling with Cecilia and trying to handcuff her as she attempted to fight them off earlier this week.
And a man covered her body with a towel as she was been led away in front of a crowd. After the incident, police commissioner Mohamed Hameed said, “An incident in which our officers restrained a female tourist seems to be badly handled. I apologise to the tourist and the public for this. The challenge I have taken up is to professionalise the police service and we are working on that.”
The-26-year-old travel blogger from London was allegedly arrested for ‘indecent exposure’ but now the incident is under investigation.
According to reports, wearing bikinis however, is permitted in holiday resorts in the popular tourist destination, but it is ‘strictly prohibited’ away from the resorts.
Last Monday, Cecilia along with a friend checked into a £40-a-night guest house on Maafushi, they paid up front for six nights, according to the reports.
When she was arrested by the policemen, she was repeatedly shouting ‘you’re sexually assaulting me’ and trying to break free of the men. She was arrested just after 5pm local time on Thursday for the ‘indecent exposure’.
Police authorities also suspected that the woman was ‘under the influence of alcohol’.
The UK government’s travel advice for the Maldives states that it is an Islamic country and that tourists should ‘respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times and should be sensitive to local dress standards’ in the country.