By Nayanajeewa Bandara

A woman army deserter who had called over at the Buttala police to lodge a complaint regarding a dispute, alleged she was raped by three police officers including an inspector in the police station.

Uva Province DIG H N G Ambanwela has appointed an investigation team under an ASP to hold a formal inquiry into the incident. The woman soldier attached to the Gajaba Regiment is a resident of Udugama in Galle.

It is said she had been in love with a young man whom she met in a bus when she was attached to a military unit at Anuradhapura. Later she had deserted the army and lived with the young man at his relative’s house in Buttala. She had become pregnant in June this year–her pregnancy being confirmed at a medical examination on July 11.When her lover came to know this he insisted on an abortion to which proposal she refused. This created a dispute that compelled her to make a complaint to Buttala Police. At the inquiry they came to a settlement with the lover agreeing to marry the woman.

However, he and his parents chased away the woman at the dead of night from the house she was living in and she, as her last resort, called over at the Buttala police station seeking a remedy. It is at the police station that it is claimed that she was trussed up and raped by three police officers.

Two days went by before the Buttala Police produced her before Wellawaya Magistrate as an army deserter. She was later handed over to the Military Police that recorded her complaint and informed the DIG.  The victim was admitted to Diyatalawa hospital and subsequently transferred to the Badulla Hospital.