The two girls were spotted by the Maharagama police at a bus stand around 11 pm and Police said they were wearing short skirts. They had also assumed that the two girls were under the influence of Alcohol.

The girls had attended the birthday party of a friend and afterwards gone to the bus stand to board a bus to return home.

It has not been proven yet that the girls were under the influence of alcohol by the time the arrest was made. Walking on the road in the night wearing a short skirt or attending birthday parties without parents do not constitute a crime! Also, there is no legal barrier prohibiting schoolgirls from attending birthday parties in the night.

Therefore, a serious question arises about exact legal provisions under which the Maharagama Police made the arrest.

The lame excuse the Police had given was that the two girls were taken into custody to protect them from ‘rapists’. Speaking to ‘Asian Mirror’ a senior lawyer added that such arbitrary arrests contravene the basic human rights ensured in the constitution of Sri Lanka.

“If there are rapists walking freely on the roads, the Police should arrest them instead of arresting the girls who are vulnerable to rapists,” the lawyer said.