SRI LANKA: An appalling case of rape and abuse of a 14 year-old girl 

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal and disturbing case of rape of a 14 year-old girl in the town of Talawakelle.  The young girl was deceived, raped and then assaulted by three boys who then locked her up without food and water for two days.  When the grandfather of the girl reported his granddaughter missing, the police refused to take down the complaint.  It was only after the girl was released and accompanied her grandfather to the police station that the police properly received the complaint.  The perpetrators have been arrested and charged, and the hearing will take place on 22 November 2005.  But the victim and her grandfather feel that the police have failed to protect her since the rape took place and from the very first moment they refused to lodge the complaint.  Had the victim felt protected by the police, she may have been saved from some of the psychological trauma she has endured since the rape occurred.  The victim is now afraid to live in Talawakelle as she fears reprisal from the perpetrators.

We therefore ask you to take action in this case and write to the relevant authorities.  In particular we ask you to urge the Inspector General of Police to order a thorough investigation and disciplinary inquiry into the action or inaction of the police who could have prevented this tragic incident from occurring.  We also ask that a speedy and fair trial is conducted into the rape case itself so that justice is attained.  Finally, while the investigation and trial are being conducted, full protection must be provided to the victim and her family.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of victim: Sri Devi Rajendran (14)
Alleged perpetrators: Siva (24), Kulasiri (24), and another man
Date of incident: 19 September 2005
Location of incident: Talawakelle Tamil maha Vidiyalaya

On 19 September 2005, Sri Devi Rajendran had gone to Desford and Mattakelle with a friend to sell tickets for a newly constructed site.  At around 4.30p.m. they returned to Talawakelle and the victim’s friend went home.  The victim proceeded to sell more tickets and then went to a nearby hotel to have a cup of tea.  A man came in and asked for the victim’s name and where she came from. She replied that she came from Lindula, which is where the man claimed he also came from.  Later, when Devi went to get the bus, the man offered to take her to Lindula in his three-wheeler.  She did not suspect anything and therefore got in the car where there were two other boys.  However, the men upon deceiving the victim proceeded to drive to Nagastenne instead of Lindula.

They then forced her into an upstairs room above a shop where one of the men, named Kalusiri removed her shawl and raped her.  They stole the victim’s chain and threatened her not to tell anyone and then they began to beat her with a wooden pole, which resulted in her sustaining severe bruising to the face.  The perpetrators then locked her inside the room.

During this time, the grandfather of the victim after searching for his granddaughter in vain had gone to the police to make a complaint.  However, the police refused to take the complaint down and instead asked the grandfather to continue to search for her and then inform them.  Still detained in the room where she was raped, Devi was given food and water on September 19 but she was without any food or water on September 20 and 21.  On September 22 she was released and immediately she went home.  The next day Devi went with her grandfather to the Lindula police station to make a complaint but the Lindula police sent them to the Talawakelle police saying that the alleged rape had occurred there.  After the victim made her complaint, she was sent to the Nuwara Eliya hospital where she stayed from September 23 to 25.

The Talawakelle police have arrested two suspects, Siva and Kulasiri after the victim identified them as the perpetrators on September 26.  She was later taken to Nuwara Eliya courts on October 11 and was asked to identify them, which she did.  The accused perpetrators are currently on bail waiting for the next hearing, which will be on November 22.  Although the owner of the shop where Devi was raped is not implicated in the current case, he is a friend of both perpetrators.

The victim is now afraid to live in Talawakelle with her grandparents out of fear of reprisals from the perpetrators.  She has no faith in the police given that they had failed to take notice of her grandfather’s initial complaint.

This is not the first reported case of rape to have occurred in Talawakelle.  The AHRC posted an Urgent Appeal in 2001 on the rape of a 16-year-old girl (see UA-33-2001, UP-16-2004 and UP-82-2004).   In the 2001 case the AHRC highlighted the failings of the justice system in Sri Lanka since not only did they fail to convict the perpetrators but the victim, a schoolgirl, was publicly degraded as a prostitute.  We fear that given the current nature of the police and judicial system, justice may not be achieved once again.

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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter immediately to the Inspector General of Police and the persons below expressing your concern about the situation in Talawakelle for victims of crime, in particular crimes of rape, urging him to take prompt action in investigating the conduct of the police and to ensure a fair trial is attained.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER