Two persons, alleged to have abducted and assaulted two 17-year-old girls in Kattankudy, for, reportedly, viewing a pornographic movie, were remanded till July 5, after attempts to punish the two girls under Sharia law failed.
Another two female suspects, who were charged with aiding and abetting the two men in assaulting the girls, were each granted bail in Rs. 100,000.“The two female suspects were identified by the two victims at an identification parade on June 28, while both male suspects are in remand pending an identification parade to be held on July 5,” police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said.
The 17-year-old girls while returning home to Kattankudi from Batticaloa, after tuition, had gone to an internet café. When the girls came out of the internet café, the two men who had been following them, queried whether they had watched pornography at the place.
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| Street name in Arabic. Pix by Saman Kariyawasam |
Then the two men had forcibly taken the girls in a three-wheeler to a house in Kattankudi, where, two women joined the men and abused and assaulted the two girls, insisting that the girls confess to having watched pornography.
Later, the two girls were produced before the mosque federation, where about 350 residents of the Kattankudi area had gathered and insisted that the representatives of the federation punish the girls for their misdemeanour, which the girls kept denying.
Meanwhile, the men who allegedly assaulted the girls, were going round the area explaining their conduct, while inviting the residents of the area to see the two girls.
The police, on hearing of the incident, had rushed to the scene and requested the mosque federation to disperse the crowd, but the federation told the police to leave the place. Thereafter, 150 police personnel were brought to the scene to control the situation, when the people attacked the police by throwing stones at them. None of the police personnel were injured.
However, the two girls were rescued from the mosque federation premises and admitted to hospital. The parents of both girls lodged a complaint with the police for further action and for their personal security.
On June 26, at a media conference, the president of the mosque federation declared that the federation did not have anything to do with the incident.
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| Young girls clad in burqa walk the streets of Kattankudi |
“Some youth, on suspicion, had accused the girls and produced them at the mosque federation. The federation tried to hand over the girls to their parents, but the youth had objected and attacked the federation office with stones. At this moment, the police came on the scene and helped us hand over the girls to their parents. Therefore, the Kattankudi mosque federation is not directly involved with this incident. We were actually trying to resolve the issue,” he said.
“As a result of this incident, rumours were spread that Islamic fundamentalism was being enforced. However, the mosque federation denies such allegations as being baseless and disassociates itself from such indoctrination,” he said.
Thereafter, on the same day, following a court order, the mosque federation in Kattankudi, in a public proclamation, exonerated the two teenage girls accused of watching pornography.
The court also ordered that the public in the Kattankudi area be peaceful, avoiding unwarranted unrest, while stating that the ultimate authority to punish wrongdoers is the sole prerogative of the court and not the public.
Meanwhile, repeated attempts by the Sunday Times to contact the mosque federation for its observations on this issue drew a blank. The police spokesman concluded that as per Police report, this was deemed a private family dispute. |
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