News
Victims of abuse escaping safe house taken back there, Police instructed to conduct inquiry
View(s):By K R Rajamanthri
Nine underage victims of sexual abuse, escaping from a government-operated safe house, in Keppetipola, Welimada were taken into Police custody.
The girls claimed they decided to escape due to the harrowing environment within the safe house.
The Welimada Police, with the assistance from the Nuwara Eliya Police, took the victims into custody on a complaint lodged by an individual who had spotted the victims in the Keppetipola area aboard a bus.
The victims were produced in the Welimada Magistrates Court, where the SI of the Welimada Women and Child Protection bureau W M Nirosha Kumari said the girls were between the ages of 15–17. They have been placed in the safe care home by orders of the respective Magistrates Courts in their areas.”
SI Kumari reported that the victims had encountered instances of harassment within the safe house. According to their statements, they faced restrictions on bathroom usage which was limited to three times a day, limited access to water, and verbal abuse, including threats if leftovers remained from meals.
Magistrate P Jayasekara ordered that the victims should return to the safe house as he could not change the directives given by other courts. However, the magistrate also instructed the Police to conduct a thorough inquiry into the allegations and to take appropriate legal action based on the findings.
The home is controlled by the Probation Office under the Uva Provincial Council.
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