ECONOMYNEXT – A postmortem has revealed evidence of “chronic vaginal penetration” of the 16-year-old domestic aid at former Sri Lanka minister Rishad Bathuideen’s private residence who succumbed to burn injuries last Thursday (15), police said.
“We’re going to conduct further investigation into the death and the facts mentioned in the postmortem report,” police spokesman Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Ajith Rohana said in a statement Monday (19) morning.
Borella police had recorded statements from the parents-in-law of the former minister Sunday (18), Rohana said, while a statement is to be recorded from the party who had brought the girl to his residence in November last year.
The postmortem report is to be presented to court on Monday.
The 16-years-and-eight-months-old Dayagama resident was admitted to the National Hospital with burn injuries on July 03 and later succumbed to the injuries last Thursday (15).
Borella police and the Colombo South Women and Children’s Bureau are conducting investigations, said Rohana.
In January 2021, Sri Lanka raised the minimum age of employment from 14 to 16 following an amendment to the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act No. 47 of 1956.
The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said the decision was based on an earlier decision to extend the age of compulsory education to 16 years, which was made under the Education Ordinance’s regulations pertaining to compulsory education.
With the new change in the law, children between the ages of 16 and 18 years can only be recruited for jobs that do not pose a threat to their life, health, education and moral development, and it is strictly not allowed to recruit them for unsafe jobs or jobs that require them to work at night. (Colombo/July19/2021)