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Suspicious death of girl at Bathiudeen’s house: Victim’s family to appear in Court on 28th

21 Jul 2021

  • Parents allege homicide
  • Assaulted with broom for ‘talking back to madam’
  • Father claims daughter afraid of fire
By Pamodi Waravita The parents of the girl who died from burn injuries sustained while employed at the household of Parliamentarian Rishad 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, legal representation for the victim’s family Attorney-At-Law (AAL) Suren D. Perera told The Morning. At a press conference held on Tuesday (20), the girl’s parents raised their suspicions about the nature of her death, stressing that they do not believe that it was a suicide. “I was in severe debt because my husband and son had both lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The man who brought my child (reference to the deceased victim) to Colombo said that since I have a 13-year-old girl and a two-year-old girl as well, those two children would suffer if I go to work in Colombo. He suggested that I would have to send the other daughter. The daughter in question volunteered to go as a means of paying our debt; there are people who come to our garden and shout demanding that we pay back the debt we owe them. After she went to the house, she said that she wanted to come back home as they had beaten her with a broom. When I asked her why, one of the other people there told me that she talks back to the madam (a reference to an elder female running the household affairs). So I asked the madam to not hit her as she is young. I do not think it was a suicide. If she had any issue, she would call us,” said the mother of the deceased, R. Ranjani. The girl, who had been admitted to Ward 72 of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) on 3 July with burn injuries, subsequently died on 15 July while receiving treatment, the Borella Police said. “She is afraid of fire. Even at home, she stands at a distance from the fireplace. Someone did this. She would never do this by herself,” the victim’s father, Jeyaraj Jude Kumar, told the media. Section 299 of Chapter XVI of the Penal Code, which deals with offences affecting the human body and life, lists the “abetment of suicide” as a crime, which upon conviction, carries the penalty of death.  Meanwhile, a protest was held in the Dayagama Estate area in Hatton on Tuesday, calling for justice for the girl. “I will stay here until my sister gets justice,” said her brother, who attended the protest. 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. The Domestic Workers Union yesterday (21) issued a statement regarding the matter, condemning the use of child labour in domestic work and calling for the State to bring in necessary measures to ensure the non recurrence of such incidents. “Domestic labourers and workers must be brought within the labour laws. The State must also put in place an efficient mechanism to monitor domestic labour related conditions and issues.” 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 she was at 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 National Child Protection Authority (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 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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