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State Minister admits child labour, abuse underreported

22 Jul 2021

  • Piyal Nishantha assures thorough probe into Bathiudeen’s maid
  • Women’s rights org. queries police probe during victim’s hospitalization
  BY Pamodi Waravita Women and Child Development, Preschools and Primary Education, School Infrastructure, and Education Services State Minister Piyal Nishantha De Silva yesterday (22) said that many cases of child labour and employment-related exploitation and abuse go unreported in Sri Lanka. He noted this in reference to the incident where a 16-year-old girl who was working as a housemaid at Parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen’s house, succumbed to burn injuries on 15 July. “The Police and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) are already investigating this. This is not a one-off incident, as these kinds of incidents occur secretly in many places. All adults have a responsibility to protect these children and to prevent these incidents. It is not just a responsibility of the NCPA, the Police, or the Justice Ministry, but of each citizen,” noted De Silva. He further expressed his disappointment at a public representative (a reference to Bathiudeen) employing a child as a domestic worker, assuring the public that the NCPA and the Police are conducting thorough investigations into the matter. The girl, who had been admitted to Ward 72 of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) on 3 July with burn injuries, had died on 15 July while receiving treatment, the Borella Police said. The Police have 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. At a press conference held yesterday, the Women’s Organisation for Justice questioned whether the investigations by the Police had taken place during the period the girl was admitted to the hospital, and prior to her death. “Every two hours, a girl gets abused. Every six hours, a woman gets abused. But where is the justice for these crimes?” questioned Women’s Organisation for Justice Convenor Nirosha Athukorala. Meanwhile, the Women and Child Development, Preschools and Primary Education, School Infrastructure, and Education Services State Ministry announced this week that nine new children’s courts would be established in each province, in order to expedite the hearing of child abuse cases as there are currently only two such courts. “There are currently 20,000 such cases concerning women and children, the hearings into which have not even started yet,” alleged Athukorala. The parents of the girl who died while being employed at the household of MP Bathiudeen have been issued notice to appear before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on 28 July as part of the ongoing inquest into her death. They have also raised their suspicions about the nature of her death, stressing that they do not believe that it was a suicide. On 16 July, the relevant Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), submitting the post-mortem report of the deceased, informed the 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 a house where she was staying before arriving at Bathiudeen’s house. After considering the facts, the 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 NCPA, and the Labour Department have been launched into the incident. MP Bathiudeen, who was in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) over his alleged involvement in the Easter Sunday terror attacks, was hospitalised on 17 July after informing 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 bombings.


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