Rape case down under moved to SL

A 24-year-old man who had been produced before Galle Addl. Magistrate Asanga Hettiwatte and was released on a cash bail of Rs. 15,000 and personnel bail of Rs.1 million with sureties each.

The man was taken into custody by the National Child Protection Authority for allegedly raping of a 15-year-old Sri Lankan origin Australian in Australia, where she first lodged a complaint.

The suspect’s passport was impounded pending further investigations.

The suspect, Ayesh Kaushalya De Silva (24), a student of an Australian university had been in love with the girl, sources said.

The victim, on June 15, 2017 made a complaint to Australian Police that she was raped by the suspect in November 2004, when she was holidaying in Sri Lanka and that she was 15- years-old at the time of the incident.

However, the suspect had returned to Sri Lanka immediately after her complaint to the Australian Police, followed by the victim, who made another complaint to the National Child Protection Authority in Sri Lanka.

Attorneys-at-Law P.K.L. Bandara and Ranjith Narangoda, appearing for the suspect told court that the two families had been in close association and that the girl had made a false complaint against her lover, who failed to fulfill her request for Rs. 20 million.

The case was postponed for October 25, 2017.(D.G. Sugathapala)