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Statutory rape: No decision yet
A statement by Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva earlier this week that the age limit for statutory rape has been reduced to 13 years, was yesterday clarified by the Justice Ministry saying that no such decision has been taken.
The Justice Ministry’s Additional Secretary Dhara Wijetilleka told The Sunday Times that the Justice Ministry was only considering changes to the statutory rape criteria, and that no decisions had been taken.

She said that the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill to be taken up by Parliament next week would not include any change to the law relating to statutory rape, and there was no likelihood that the age-limit would be reduced from the present 16 years for consensual sex.

She said that the "wrong signal" should not go out that the Government was liberalising on this law, and that the changes contemplated did not envisage the decriminalisation of the present law.

Ms. Wijetilleka said that the Ministry was however considering giving the Attorney General the discretion to prosecute or not to prosecute under this law when the case involved sexual intercourse between consenting parties where the male was below a particular age, probably under 18 or 19 only, and the "interests of justice" would not be met by the prosecution of the male.
She said the proposal made for the Attorney General to consider “all the circumstances" and have the power to grant sanction for a prosecution under those limited circumstances.

She added that the consensual age for sex would “definetely not be below 13 years "in such circumstances, which would mean that even the discretionary power vested with the Attorney General will not apply to consensual sex if the girl was below 13 years.

Health Minister de Silva said this week that the cabinet had approved lowering the age of consent for a girl to have sex to 13 years from the present 16. Any male having sex with a girl under the age-limit, even with the girl's consent is deemed to have committed (statutory) rape.

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