A 14 year old Tamil school child who was raped last month was beaten by Sri Lankan police officials as she tried to report the crime, reports Colombo Telegraph.
The girl, who was reportedly abducted and raped by her school bus driver on June 19th, attempted to report the crime to Haputale police on the 7th of July.
A woman police constable proceeded to beat the child, warning her not to reveal details of the rape to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO). If the child spoke, the constable “threatened to kill the victim’s parents and everyone else in the family,” according to reports.
Despite the threats, the girl proceeded to report the crime, with the JMO confirming she was raped.
However, after arresting the alleged rapist, the police set him free later that day.
The victims, Roman Catholic Tamils living in a majority Sinhalese village, state that the incident is emblematic of racist discrimination on the island.
“The victim’s family says that as they belong to an ethnic and religious minority in the region, the police have not given them attention in their quest for justice. The case illustrates the collapse of the rule of law in the country,” said the Asian Human Rights Commission.
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