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Sri Lankan women auctioned in Oman

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Young Sri Lankan women who were sent to Oman on the promise of employment have been queued up to be selected by the employers in the offices of the recruitment agents, it was reported.

Some women have been sold for prostitution for millions of rupees. The price is determined according to the age and appearance of the woman.

The investigating teams have revealed that the agencies had paid only a little to the women, even though they were bought by employers for millions of rupees. This has been revealed during an investigation conducted by the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and State Intelligence Service sent to Oman on the orders of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

One form of smuggling is taking the women as tourists to Dubai, UAE and then taking them to Oman by bus across the border at Al Buraimi. Another plan is to take them to India on tourist visas and then to Oman.

It has also been revealed that most of them were sexually assaulted while being taken to the employment agency office by the traffickers.

The agents take the passport and the mobile phone of the victims. They take a video of the women in order to send them to the employers and bring them to the auction.

It has also been revealed that even the taxi drivers sexually assault these women while they are being taken to the employer.

The women who are bought by the employers are considered as their assets. Besides giving them an unlimited amount of work, they are also employed in their relative’s houses and subjected to sexual abuse.

The women who escape from those houses due to abuse and violence by their employers are unable to report to the Sri Lankan Embassy since they have not been registered under the domestic service of the Foreign Employment Bureau.

It has also been revealed that even though these women went to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman, the embassy cannot intervene according to the Omani laws since they have been bought by their employers for many years.

The women who are not able to return to Sri Lanka after obtaining some relief from the embassy, are employed by the agents as prostitutes and sold to foreigners including Bangladeshis.

It has been revealed that a woman who became a victim of this human trafficking was also among the 45 women in the Safe House located near the Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman.

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President says no to Deshabandu?

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe bowed to the influential Bar Association of Sri Lanka and rejected the Public Security minister’s nominee for the new police chief, ‘Economynext’ reports, quoting a source close to the President.

According to reports, Minister Tiran Alles had lobbied to appoint controversial senior Deputy Inspector General Deshabandu Tennakoon as successor to Chandana Wickramaratna who is due to retire later this week.

“The President said no to Deshabandu and is most likely to extend the tenure of Wickramaratna by at least another year,” ‘Economynext’ adds, further quoting the source.

It also states that the President was reportedly irked when he saw inspired media reports claiming that he had nominated Tennakoon’s name to the Constitutional Council last week.

The Bar Association in a letter to President Wickremesinghe last week ,urged him not to appoint any officer facing criminal charges or facing fundamental rights allegations, a clear reference to Tennakoon who faces multiple cases and even a court order for his arrest.

Meanwhile, ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ has seen a SDIG seniority list of the police, with SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena at the very top.

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12 Indian fishermen released on strict bail conditions

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Point Pedro Magistrate Ponnathurai Krishanthan has ordered ordered the release of 12 Indian fishermen who were arrested and remanded for fishing in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka.

The magistrate had ordered the release of the concerned fishermen under a suspended sentence of 1 1/2 – 10 years and forbade them from entering the Sri Lankan waters again.

The fishermen, who were released on strict conditions, are to be handed over to the Indian coastguard security officials through the Indian Consulate General in Jaffna with the help of the Navy.

(Source : Lankadeepa)

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Closed area of ’18 Wanguwa’ reopened

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The stretch of the Kandy-Mahiyangana Road which was closed near the second bend of the 18 Hairpin Bends (18 Wanguwa) has been re-opened for traffic.

Police had announced last evening (March 19) that the 2nd hairpin bend of the ‘Dahaata Wanguwa’ on the Kandy-Mahiyangana road, was temporarily closed off due to an earth slip and rocks falling onto the road.

However, the stretch of road has now been reopened for traffic movement after clearing the debri.

The decision to reopen the road was taken after a joint site inspection by the Kandy district Disaster Management Centre, the NBRO and the RDA, says Director of the district DMC – Mr. Deshapriya Bandara. 

However, he urged motorists to be cautious as there is a risk of further earthslips during heavy rain.

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