Pageant organizers expect Mrs World Organization to take stern action against Caroline Jurie

The organizers of the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant yesterday said they expected the Mrs World Organization to take stern action against reigning Mrs World Caroline Jurie for her behaviour at the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant held on Sunday evening where she forcefully stripped the crown off the winner, claiming the winner was a divorcee.

Mrs Sri Lanka for Mrs. World pageant national director Chandimal Jayasinghe told the Daily Mirror that they suspected Jurie had acted in manner to take out a personal vengeance on the crowned winner Pushpika De Silva, whom she snatched the crown from and crowned the first runner up instead.

Chandimal said the organizers of Mrs Sri Lanka would not take any action against Jurie but they expected Mrs World Organization to react to the incident as Jurie was the reigning Mrs World.

"There is no need to take any action against Jurie as the whole country witnessed her behaviour and all are disgusted on her actions. We expect Mrs World to take action against her. Caroline may be suffering from some kind of mental disorder or depression, but we do not know what happened. She made a huge blunder. She is responsible for her own actions," Chandimal said.

The brawl erupted late on Sunday night when Pushpika De Silva who was contestant number 20, was ajudged the winner and crowned by Jurie herself. Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Rosy Senanayake and Jalani Premadasa were the Chief Guests who gave out the trophies and bouquets to the winner and the first and second runner ups.

After the guests had left and after the judges had vacated the premises, and when the winner was about to make her victory walk, Caroline Jurie had stormed on stage, snatched a microphone from the host and claimed that Pushpika was a divorcee and therefore she could not be crowned the winner. She then declared the first runner up as the winner and proceeded to remove the crown from Pushpika. She was supported by Chula Padmendra who was also part of the show. Jurie then crowned the first runner up and Pushpika angrily stormed off the stage. The Daily Mirror learns that a massive brawl then erupted back stage.

Pushpika was admitted to hospital, suffering from scalp injuries yesterday and has also lodged a police complaint against Jurie and Padmendra.

Chandimal said that Jurie's claims that Pushpika was a divorcee was merely words as she had not provided any legal proof. Pushpika herself has denied the claims stating that she was separated from her husband but not divorced.

The plot took a further twist last evening, when Pushpika's husband in a Facebook post urged people not to involve him in the incident since he had not been living with Pushpika for the past four years and they were facing an ongoing divorce case which was about to get finalized.

Chandimal said all contestants had to provide proof of their marriage and had to fill out the forms accordingly before taking part in the contest.

Former Mrs. World and Mayor of Colombo, Rosy Senanayake who has been a part of the Mrs World organization for several years, last evening apologized on behalf of the Mrs World stating that what had unfolded was unacceptable and shocking.

"This is not how women should behave. For me, I am ashamed because this is disgracing the Mrs World Organization. It is a disgrace for all humanity to see people going to the extent of humiliating, character assassinating and plucking the crown off someone and making it look like a wrestling match. The little I saw of this, I am shocked," Senanayake said.

The Daily Mirror learns that just two days before the event, the organizers had included a clause that all the contestants must be well versed in English, which was then removed by Senanayake who said this went against the Mrs World rules as contestants could speak any language. It is unclear if the clause was included by Jurie herself but some who were involved in the contest said Jurie had insisted for this clause to be included at the last moment.

Several attempts to contact Jurie failed as she did not respond to calls or messages. (JAMILA HUSAIN)