Police found a 15-year-old girl who had been reported missing about five months earlier in a cave in the Knuckles mountain range, where she was staying with her two-month-old daughter.
The girl’s family had reported her disappearance to the Ududumbara Police. Chief Inspector Thusitha Dombagammana, the officer in charge of the station, led the initial investigation.
During the investigation, officers grew suspicious after noticing that a young man was buying more rice each day from a local shop than one person would typically need. They followed him into a forested area away from nearby settlements and found the girl and her baby inside a cave covered with plastic sheeting. Police confirmed that she was the teenager who had been reported missing.
Police arrested the 23-year-old man, who is said to be the baby’s father, and took the girl and her baby into their care. Police said they learned during questioning that the girl had given birth in the cave. Investigators also found that the baby’s umbilical cord had been cut with a sharp tool used in kithul tapping.
The man told police that the girl and her baby had been treated with traditional remedies reportedly gathered from the forest. He also said the baby had been bathed in a pan used to make kithul treacle.
Police also arrested a 36-year-old relative of the man who allegedly assisted him.
Police arranged for the girl and her baby to receive treatment at the National Hospital in Kandy. Ududumbara Police are continuing their investigation.
