Over five years after raping a woman and sexually harassing another in Vishwamadu of Killinochchi in the Northern Province, four former soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army have been convicted and awarded rigorous imprisonment for 25 years.
The offences were committed in June 2010 while resettlement of internally-displaced persons was taking place in the Vanni region. The victims were Tamils, spokesperson of the Police department, Ruwan Gunasekara, told The Hindu on Thursday.
The Jaffna High Court stated that the four convicts had to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000 each, failing which they should serve three more years in prison. They should also provide compensation of Rs. 5 lakh each to the women and in the event of default, they should serve another two years. As for the other crime of sexual harassment, a fine of Rs. 10,000 had been slapped on each of them. Brigadier K.J Jayaweera, Army spokesperson, said the four were no longer in service.
