News
Rishad further remanded; wife and father-in-law granted bail
MP Rishad Bathiudeen has been further remanded until October 01 in connection with the death of a teenage domestic worker who was serving at his residence.
Meanwhile, the parliamentarian’s wife and father-in-law have been granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, when the case was taken up on Sept. 17..
On July 15, the 16-year-old girl, who was serving as domestic help at the Bathiudeen residence, succumbed to severe burn injuries while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. She had been under medical care for 12 days since her admission to the hospital on July 03.
Jude Kumar Ishalini, who was residing in the Dayagama area, had been 15 years of age when she was brought to the parliamentarian’s residence at Bauddhaloka Mawatha for domestic work last October.
The judicial medical officer who conducted the post-mortem on the girl’s death concluded that she had been sexually exploited.
Thereby, the former minister’s wife, father-in-law, and the middleman in question were taken into custody on July 23 based on the testimonies recorded from nearly 20 individuals, autopsy results, and the evidence gathered by the investigating officers which pointed to the fact that the deceased girl was subjected to abuse.
In addition, the 44-year-old brother-in-law of MP Bathiudeen was also taken into custody and produced before the Judicial Medical Officer for allegedly sexually abusing a young woman who worked as a domestic helper at the lawmaker’s official residence from 2015 to 2019.
Her remains were exhumed on July 30 for a second postmortem by a court-appointed specialist medical team.
On August 23, MP Rishad Bathiudeen, who is currently under remand custody over a different case, was named the fifth suspect of the case.
Bathiudeen’s brother-in-law Mohamed Ismat and Ponnaiya Pandaram, the intermediary who had brought the girl to the Bathiudeen residence, were released on bail last week.
The former minister and his brother were taken into custody on April 24, under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), for allegedly aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who perpetrated the deadly bombings on April 21, 2019.
In line with the forthcoming 75th Army Anniversary (10 October) a solemn ceremony was held on 7th October 2024 at the Battaramulla War Heroes’ Monument (Ranaviru Smarakaya) to pay tribute to the heroic sacrifices of the nation’s fallen War Heroes.
The Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage RWP RSP ndu, presided over the ceremony as the Chief Guest, lending a significant sense of respect and prominence to the occasion. The event commenced with singing the National Anthem, followed by a two-minute silence observed in honour of the nation’s fallen patriots.
Thereafter, the Chief Guest, accompanied by several Senior Officers and Colonels of all regiments of the Sri Lanka Army laid floral wreaths and saluted paying a solemn tribute to the fallen War Heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for the sovereignty of the nation.
Former MPs not entitled to police protection
By Rathindra Kuruwita
There are laws and regualations stipulating the level of security to be provided to Presidents, former Presidents, Ministers, and MPs, but in the past they were given more security, Cabinet spokesman, Minister Vijitha Herath has said.
“According to the law, a person is not entitled to police protection after ceasing to be an MP. But previous governments allowed former MPs to retain their security in violation of laws and regulations,” Minister Herath said yesterday.
“In the future, intelligence services will conduct a threat assessment, and special security will be provided only to those facing security threats, Minister Herath said, stressing that elected representatives should be treated equally.
“The Ministry of Defence has also requested VIPs to return the weapons and ammunition issued to them. This does not mean the Ministry will retain these weapons indefinitely; they will be returned after a thorough assessment of threats and proper documentation,” he added .
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Sri Lanka had authorised a Chinese military training vessel to arrive, Cabinet Spokesman, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said yesterday.
Herath said the Chinese vessel was no threat to anyone’s national security and Indian, German and US warships had docked in Sri Lankan ports.
Asked by a journalist whether there would be a change in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy, Herath said that the NPP treated every country equally.
“We will not treat anyone more favourably than others. This is the basis of the non-aligned policy,” he said, noting that they had no problem with any country supporting Sri Lanka in a way that does not harm the country’s national interests.
Herath said that a senior US military official would visit Sri Lanka on Thursday (10) and the US was to present a naval vessel to the Sri Lanka Navy.
“National interest is our priority and based on that we will engage with everyone,” he said.
Herath added that they had prepared a list of relatives, and associates of politicians who had been appointed to various Sri Lankan missions. The list would be published soon, he said.
Sri Lanka Army pays tribute to fallen War Heroes
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