Young man charged with running away with an underage girl

By Ranjith Rajapakse   

A young man who ran away with an underage schoolgirl and stayed  with her at a house in Haputale area was arrested by Lindula Police on  Thursday night. It is an offence that amounts to unlawful removal from  custody since the girl is underage.   

The victim was a Grade 10 student at a Tamil school in Talawakele and a resident of Logie Estate. The 15-year-old schoolgirl had fallen in love with the suspect, whom she had met through Facebook, and had met him at Nanu Oya Railway Station at his request.   

Investigations revealed that she had sneaked out from home  and met him at Nanu Oya from where she had travelled with him by train to  Haputale.   

Police said she had been left in the care of her father  after her mother left for employment abroad. Lindula Police that  initiated investigations of her father’s complaint that she had gone  missing from home, traced the whereabouts of the girl and took charge of  her and arrested the suspect.   

The girl was referred to the JMO Nuwara- Eliya General  Hospital for medical examination, and the suspect was to be produced in  court yesterday.   

Acting OIC Palitha Nandasiri and Sergeant 1809 Nalika of the Women and Children’s Bureau are conducting further investigations on the  instructions of SSP Anuruddha Hakmana.