Bail for lawyer charged with sex abuse

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

A senior lawyer (64) who sexually abused and hurt a 15-year-old girl, a domestic servant was granted bail by the Additional Magistrate, Galle on Friday after being held in remand custody, a spokesman for the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) told the Sunday Observer.

The suspect lawyer from down south was taken into custody by the NCPA when the Magistrate, Udugama referred the case to them. The lawyer is said to have sexually molested the girl at his residence Matara area for more than a year. The NCPA sleuths who visited his residence also found a chain where the lawyer had chained the girl before committing the offence. The lawyer who owned an estate at Bambaradolawatte in the Thiniyawa area in the south had recruited the girl for domestic work.

An NCPA spokesman said they were also investigating a case where the suspect lawyer had sexually abused another 13-year-old domestic servant. He is said to have procured the young girls through a 19-year-old woman at his estate. Meanwhile, NCPA sleuths have recorded the statements of several witnesses in this regard, and is awaiting a medical report from the JMO Karapitiya Hospital for further action.