The Army to take strict disciplinary actions against all those who have violated military code of conduct as sited in a video that was web-casted over Youtube, on the orders of the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake.
Upon finding a Youtube video depicting a group of female recruits being harassed by some female as well as male instructors, the Commander of the Army had ordered an investigation on March 4, the Ministry of Defence website states.
The investigation was carried out by the Sri Lanka Army Corps of Military Police and according to evidence gathered so far it was revealed that the video in question was an authentic one. Accordingly, the incident of the video had taken place in October 2012 at a camp in Anuradhapura where some female recruits were punished while undergoing training.
According to a preliminary report the instructors have punished the recruits for violating military discipline. However, the method adopted has not been in accordance with standard procedures prescribed for such corrective punitive actions. It has been found that the individuals who carried out this excessive action had over stepped their mandate and acted in their own.
The statement adds that armies all over the world have standing procedures when it comes to disciplining the soldiers especially during formative period of initial training. Such actions are designed as corrective measures and have to be authorized by appropriate authorities. In this instance no such authorization had been obtained. Further, the punitive methods employed by the instructors were not in line with prescribed procedures.