Pepiliyana perpetrators pardoned
The managements of the retail clothing chain, Fashion Bug, and the heavy vehicle company, whose warehouse and office were vandalized by a mob last Thursday night (28) agreed to drop charges against the 17 suspects including three monks in court yesterday, as a mark of goodwill to rebuild unity among the Muslims and Sinhalese.
Nugegoda Magistrate Ajith Masinghe said: "Monks being the disciples of the Buddha should not cause disharmony but should work to ensure peace and promote unity in society."
Acquitting the suspects, Magistrate Masinghe issued a further warning, stating: "If any groups attempt to disrupt stability within society, they will be charged under the law, regardless of their social status."
Senior DIG in charge of the Western Province, Anura Senanayake, appearing on behalf of the police informed court that the incident on 28 March was a result of a mob with scant regard to the law attacking business establishments on their own volition, even though the law enforcement authorities had taken steps to take the...
The reason for the attack on the Muslim business establishments in Pepiliyana had been purportedly due to a complaint lodged against a Muslim youth by the father of a teenage girl with whom he reportedly has had a romantic alliance.
Senanayake also said that according to inquiries conducted by the police, the under-aged girl had been sexually molested as a result of love affair. He pointed out the boy who is 17-years-old had been apprehended by the police and the suspect is currently in remand custody. "The mob had first attacked a local company, where the boy was employed.
Subsequently, they attacked the warehouse, which is located about 750 metres away. Several police officers and a photo journalist had also been attacked by the mob," DIG Senanayake said.
He added that the senior management of Fashion Bug and the other company had agreed not to press charges as a gesture of goodwill and to maintain harmony and unity among the different communities.
Three monks who had surrendered to the Mirihana Police on Monday (1) night over the incident were produced before the Magistrate.
They have been identified as Dam Pahala Rahula and Anurapura Palitha of the Korawella Rajamaha Viharaya and Dam Pahala Gnanarathana of Telawala Sirivijaya Viharaya in Mt. Lavinia.
Category: Local
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