Nine video recording units to record evidence of child abuse victims

The Cabinet has approved a proposal to set up video recording facilities in the nine provinces to record evidence from children who have been victims of abuse.

The proposal was submitted by the Education Minister and the video recording facilities will be set up within hospital premises covering the nine provinces in the island.

The evidence given by children who have been subjected to various abuses is important in the judicial process, the Government noted. Since such victimized children have to face various inconveniences when providing evidence before the court publicly, the country's legal system has been furnished with provisions to take these evidences as video recordings subject to provisions in Evidence (Special Provisions) Act No. 32 of 1999.

Accordingly, an evidence video recording unit was established in 2001 and those evidences are taken only in Colombo at present within the National Child Protection Authority.

As such, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Minister of Education to establish the facility at provincial level by initiating nine video evidence recording units within hospital premises covering the nine provinces in the island.

The proposal's approval comes amid a wide-ranging police investigation into an online child exploitation ring allegedly involving dozens of suspects, who had sexually abused a 15-year-old girl who had been sold for sex over the internet. More than 40 suspects have so far been arrested in connection with this ongoing investigation.