News

The Women’s and Children’s Bureau of the Kandy Police has sought the advice of the Attorney General’s Department on how to proceed in connection with an alleged incident of child abuse involving a young teacher and a nine-year-old boy of Trinity College, Kandy.

According to a statement made by the Principal to the police, the teacher in question has been dismissed.

“We have sent the file (No. 128/6) on August 3 to the AG’s Dept,” a Women’s and Children’s Bureau spokeswoman told The Sunday Times yesterday, adding that the statement of the Trinity College Principal was recorded following a complaint made to the police by a parent about the incident.

The parent who made the complaint is not the father of the child in question.

The spokeswoman said that when asked by the police, the child’s father had made a statement but was reluctant to bring the child to the police to make a statement on the alleged incident.

The Principal, has in his statement to the police, said that an incident was reported to him by the parent of the child as having taken place on a bus when the children were returning to school after a class outing. The Junior School Headmaster investigated the complaint and he, the Principal, removed the teacher from employment with the college. The boy and his parent were also counselled and the matter settled, the Principal had told the police. The alleged incident had taken place on the last day of the A/L examination in June.

The Sunday Times understands that the matter was raised at two fora of the school - a Parent-Teacher Executive Committee meeting on July 21 and a meeting of the Board of Governors on July 22.

Subsequently, on July 24, another parent, Sam Samarasekera, who is a third generation old boy and currently head coach of the college’s junior rugby team had made an official complaint (WCIB 44/197) to the Women’s and Children’s Bureau of the Kandy Police.

“In the interests of all children I made the complaint to the police,” he said.