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Girl’s death at Bathiudeen’s house: SJB Tamil MPs complain to Police

21 Jul 2021

BY Pamodi Waravita The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) led by Samagi Jana Balawegeya parliamentarian Mano Ganesan has filed a complaint with Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) – Western Province Deshabandu Tennekoon, requesting a thorough investigation into the death of the 16-year-old girl at MP Rishad Bathiudeen’s residence last week. “Bathiudeen is also an Opposition MP. But we need an investigation into this outside of the realm of politics. For her age, she should have been in school,” Ganesan told the media. SJB MPs P. Thigambaram, M. Udayakumar, and M. Velu Kumar, representing the Nuwara Eliya District, accompanied Ganesan to file the complaint. The girl in question who had been admitted to Ward 72 of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) on 3 July with burn injuries had subsequently died on 15 July while receiving treatment, the Borella Police said. The Police stated that investigations have revealed that the girl was brought to the house in October 2020, when she was 15 years and 11 months old. On 16 July, the relevant Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), submitting the postmortem report of the deceased, informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya that the victim had been seriously sexually abused for a prolonged period. The Borella Police also informed the court on 16 July that they are investigating whether the girl was sexually abused after coming to Bathiudeen’s house or whether it had taken place at the house where she was staying before arriving at Bathiudeen’s house. After considering the facts, the Colombo Additional Magistrate had on 16 July ordered that the body of the deceased be handed over to her brother while ordering the family of the girl and the family of Bathiudeen, for whom the girl worked, to appear before the court on the next day. Meanwhile, multiple investigations by the Police, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), and the Department of Labour have been launched into the incident. Bathiudeen, who was in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over his alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday bombings, was hospitalised on 17 July after informing the CID officers that he was ill. He had then been taken to the outpatient department of the NHSL. Upon being examined by doctors, the MP was admitted to the emergency treatment unit (ETU) of the hospital. He was arrested on 24 April and is being detained for 90 days by the CID under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act in connection with his alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday terror attacks.


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