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Court orders report on Rishad’s phone records

06 Sep 2021

  • MP, wife, father-in-law re-remanded Bro-in-law, housemaids’ broker enlarged on bail
BY Pamodi Waravita In connection with the case of the death of a 16-year old girl who was employed at his residence in July, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (6) ordered a report on the phone records of the presently incarcerated All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen, following the latter’s recent unlawful use of a mobile phone whilst in prison. In July, the Police stated that investigations have revealed that a girl was brought to the house of Bathiudeen in October 2020 as a domestic worker, when she was 15-years and 11-months old. The girl, who had been admitted to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo on 3 July with burn injuries, had died on 15 July while receiving treatment, the Borella Police said. Welikada Prison officials recovered a mobile phone in the possession of Bathiudeen on 1 September and the prosecution yesterday stated in court that based on suspicions that Bathiudeen had given instructions regarding the girl to his family, the phone records must be examined. Meanwhile, the court decided to further remand Bathiudeen, his wife, and father-in-law yesterday, whilst granting bail to his brother-in-law and the broker, suspected to be 64-year-old Ponnaiyah Pandaram, alias Shankar, who it has been revealed has brought domestic workers to the same residence on previous occasions as well. When the Police had questioned 11 other women who had been employed as domestic workers at the residence, one of them had alleged that Bathiudeen’s brother-in-law, Mohamed Shiabdeen Ismat, had sexually abused her. Two separate cases have been filed against him for the rape of domestic workers who had been previously employed at the residence. At the previous hearing in court, it was revealed that although the second post-mortem report on the girl’s body had been unable to comment on the time period during which she had experienced sexual intercourse, it has confirmed evidence of her experiencing continuous sexual intercourse. Bathiudeen, who was previously briefly hospitalised at the Colombo National Hospital whilst incarcerated, is in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) after being arrested on 24 April 2021, and detained by the CID under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 as amended, in connection with his alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday terror attacks.


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