News
HRCSL orders action against six police personnel
Breach of fundamental rights of female victim:
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to conduct an impartial and formal inquiry into an incident involving six police officers from the Ipalogama Police Station and to institute legal action against them.
The officers are accused of violating the human rights of a woman by failing to record her complaint.
The six officers, who were attached to Ipalogama at the time, have been fined by the HRCSL, which has also ordered the IGP to take criminal action against them. The then Officer-in-Charge (OIC) has been ordered to pay the victim Rs. 50,000 for failing to supervise the incident. Additionally, an SI is to pay Rs. 100,000, a WSI Rs. 50,000, and a PC, WPC, and a member of the Civil Defence Force are each ordered to pay Rs. 10,000 to the victim for the breach of her fundamental rights.
The HRCSL concluded after a lengthy investigation that the police officers had violated the victim’s fundamental rights, as guaranteed by Articles 11, 12(1), 13(1), and 13(2) of the Constitution.
The victim, Himali Indunil, in her complaint to the HRCSL on January 24, 2022, stated that on March 13, 2020, she had been staying at an inn in Ipalogama when her estranged husband, accompanied by three others, assaulted and sexually harassed her. When the innkeepers alerted the police, a team arrived, spoke to the suspect husband, and accepted money from him to cover the damages to the inn. The police then took the victim into custody and held her at the Ipalogama Police Station, where she was subjected to humiliation and further mistreatment. The officers allowed her ex-husband to take pictures and videos of her with his mobile phone, which he later uploaded to social media, as found by the HRCSL investigation.
The investigation also revealed that the officers, including the OIC, colluded with the husband and had the victim sign a statement that was prepared by them.
In her complaint, the victim has mentioned that she later attempted to report the harassment and breach of her rights to nearby police stations, but none of them accepted her complaint. She eventually lodged a complaint with the IGP, leading to an inquiry overseen by the DIG Anuradhapura and a retired SP. The HRCSL found that the retired SP had been biased toward the accused police officers.
The HRCSL concluded that the victim’s rights had been breached through unlawful arrest, unlawful detention, and other violations by the police. It also recommended that the IGP conduct special awareness training for officers attached to the Women and Children Desks at police stations regarding their roles and responsibilities.
Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal deep sea areas
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 05.00 p.m. 18 September 2026, valid for the next 24 hours.
PLEASE BE AWARE!
The atmospheric disturbance to the North of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, is likely to develop into a low pressure area within the next 24 hours.
Due to its influence, wind speed over the Bay of Bengal sea areas will increase during the next few days starting from
tomorrow (19th).
The wind speed in the sea areas marked under the “Advisory” category on the map below will increase to 55-65 kmph at times and those sea areas will be rough or very rough at times.
Navel and fishing communities engaging the activities over this sea area are advised to be vigilant and be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the department of Meteorology in this regards.
Text and Pic by Priyan de Silva
Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) Ranga Dissanayake has questioned whether some promises contained in the National People’s Power (NPP) manifesto, A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life, could be fulfilled even if the government wanted to implement them.
Dissanayake raised the issue during a discussion following the release of the third biannual report on manifesto monitoring by the March 12 Movement, at the BMICH, on Wednesday.
He questioned whether the report had taken into account legal and institutional constraints affecting the implementation of certain pledges.
Citing the proposal to establish Anti-Corruption Investigation Offices in each district, Dissanayake said such offices could be established only with the agreement of CIABOC and that amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act would be necessary.
He also referred to the pledge to abolish the Executive Presidency, noting that successive governments had made similar commitments since 1994. He questioned whether there had been adequate consideration of where the powers vested in the Executive President would be transferred if the system were abolished.
On the proposal to establish a Public Prosecutor, Dissanayake questioned whether the Government intended to maintain the office alongside the Attorney General, who currently performs prosecution-related functions.
Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake said Dissanayake’s remarks should be regarded as his personal views and not as Government policy.
Monitoring and Evaluation Consultants M. Thilakarajah and D.D. Mataharaarachchi presented the third-phase findings, covering January to June 2026.
The corruption case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) against former Navy Commander, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, and Yoshitha Rajapaksa was set for a pre-trial conference by the Colombo High Court.
The case was taken up before the Colombo High Court on Thursday (17), when the accused, who are currently out on bail, appeared before the court. After considering the submissions made, the court ordered that the case be called for a pre-trial conference.
The CIABOC had filed the case against the accused, alleging that a corruption offence was committed by sending Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for training at the Royal Naval College in the United Kingdom despite him not having the required qualifications.
Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal
Showers in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya Districts
Some NPP manifesto promises may be difficult to fulfil – CIABOC DG
Yoshitha and ex-Navy chief Karannagoda’s case fixed for PTC
Court orders probe into Wimal’s rally speech
Court to rule on Dilith’s writ petition on September 30
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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