Former policeman sentenced to 14 years for child sexual abuse

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo, October 1 (Daily Mirror) - Homagama High Court Judge Navaratna Marasinghe sentenced a former Borella police officer, who had been indicted for sexually abusing a girl under the age of 16, to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment.

The indictment alleged that on September 13, 2009, the accused engaged in grave sexual abuse by using part of his body to sexually touch the private parts of an eight year old girl, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 365B(2)(b) of the Penal Code as amended by Act No. 22 of 1995 and Act No. 29 of 1998.

Delivering the judgment, the Judge observed that the prosecution had proved the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

State Counsel Shaini Weerasuriya appearing for the Attorney General submitted that the accused, being a police officer entrusted with the responsibility of upholding the law, had gravely misused his official position to commit such an offence against a child. 

The Court accepted that the accused’s conduct amounted to both a violation of the trust reposed in him by the Police Department and a serious breach of social justice expected from law enforcement officers.

The Judge emphasised that this was not an ordinary offence but a crime of an extremely grave nature, particularly since society relies on the Police Department to safeguard justice rather than to commit offences of this kind. By committing this offence, the accused had not only violated the trust of the child victim but had also tarnished the image of the Police Department itself.

The Court further noted that the offence of grave sexual abuse had been newly introduced into Sri Lanka’s Penal Code through the 1995 amendment, due to the rising prevalence of such crimes in society. The fact that such a serious offence had been committed by a police officer, who is ordinarily responsible for investigating into such crimes, made the matter even more serious.

Accordingly, the accused was sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment. In addition, the Judge imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 and ordered the payment of Rs. 400,000 as compensation to the victim.