Woman who was arrested for wearing a dress with ship's wheel files FR petition

A woman who was arrested for wearing a garment portraying a ship's wheel or helm has filed a fundamental rights petition against her unlawful arrest.

Abdul Rahim Mazaina, a Kolongoda resident had filed the petition at the Supreme Court, naming the OIC of the Hasalaka Police Station, the Acting IGP, and the Attorney General as respondents.

The petition had been filed by attorneys Harini Jayawardena and Pulasthi Hewamantha on behalf of the woman who had been decribed in the petition as a mother of one.

She had been employed as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia before she had started working as a dress-maker upon her return to the country.

The petitioner, who was arrested and later released on bail recently, argues that she had been wearing a garment which contained the symbol of a ship's wheel and not the dharmachakra as claimed by the police.

Accordingly she had sought relief by means of compensation and imposing a punishment on the police officers who arrested her.