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Hell near well: Others watched as woman was raped
View(s):A resident living down Pasal Mawatha at Wijerama close to the Sri Jaywardenapura University was alerted by the cries of a woman on Wednesday night. The cries came from the area of a public well.
Looking out, he noticed two three-wheelers parked near the well which had two bathing sections –one for men and the other for women.
A protest outside Mirihana police. Pic by Indika Handuwala
He promptly called the Police Emergency unit on 119. The message was picked up by the Police Communication unit at Mirihana and two policemen directing traffic at the Wijerama junction on the High Level road rushed to the scene within five minutes.
Mirhana Police Inspector Roshan Rajapaksa said that when the two policemen arrived at the scene some residents had already got there.
“The policemen found out that a woman had been raped by a three-wheeler driver in the enclosure of the public well. A friend of the driver who was present was also arrested,” he said.
Investigations have revealed that the victim was a woman who bought offcuts from garment factories.
“The woman had boarded a bus to Maharagama, but had mistakenly got off the bus at the Wijerama junction, about two halts before her destination,” he said.
According to the statement made by the woman she had realised that she had got off at the wrong halt and had crossed the road and walked towards a fuel station to get directions. It was around 7 p.m. At this point a green three-wheeler had driven up to her and three men in the rear dragged her into the vehicle, according to the woman.
She had screamed, but to no avail as there was nobody in the vicinity to help her, she told police, adding that the men threatened her with death if she screamed.
She said the men had begun to harass her inside the vehicle while they telephoned friends and told them to come to the location where they were taking her. The victim said she was then taken to the public well area and raped by the three-wheeler driver while the others in the vehicle looked on.
She said she heard a second three-wheeler coming to the spot and more people coming and looking on while she was being raped. The second three-wheeler fled the scene when the police were approaching.
Police said the second man they arrested was a groundsman at the Sri Jayawardhanapura University while they were on the lookout for a driver attached to the same university and another accomplice. The second three-wheeler has still not been traced.Meanwhile, the three-wheeler driver accused of rape told police the woman had consented to come with them after they promised to pay her.
However, police arrested the suspect Malaka Eranda, 28, a resident of Wijerama, who had been returning from a party with friends. The two suspects were produced before the Gangodawila Magistrate who had granted the main suspect and his friends bail.
However, as no one came forward to support the bail the suspects were remanded until February 6.
Meanwhile, the UNP’s Lakvanitha Front held a protest in front of the Mirihana Police station demanding that the other suspects be arrested.
Calling for more protection for women and children the organisation’s president Shanthini Kongahage said measures should be taken to give maximum punishment to the offenders.
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