Page 19 - KDU INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

KDU International Journal of Criminal Justice (KDUIJCJ)
Volume I | Issue II| July 2024

lawyer and the perpetrator husband when questioned said that his wife
consented to him being there. This was a clear instance of Marital Rape.

Marital Rape is outlawed by 363(b) and (c) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka.

Similar to the complaints lodged before the Police did not record the
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complaint and did not investigate. On the next court date, the above
incident was reported to court by the victim Lisa. Lisa was subsequently

sent with her daughter to another shelter in the Western Province of Sri
Lanka where she kept as a prisoner. She and her daughter did not have.

anyone to talk to.

By this time, she discovered she was pregnant. She did not even have the

opportunity of visiting ante-natal clinics until she demanded many times.
She was insulted and verbally abused each time she felt nauseated due to

her pregnancy. She suffered from depression as the staff at this shelter

mocked and treated her with derision. Since she was extremely unhappy
at the said shelter a donor was willing to pay for alternative

accommodation (for Lisa to live in a rented apartment with another single

Mother and to be supervised by a Women’s Organization in the area) but
the court refused and committed her and her child to the same shelter

where she was accommodated earlier. After the court hearing while
waiting for the shelter staff to pick her up Lisa took her daughter and ran

away. She wandered off and when it grew dark, she checked the contacts

in her phone and found the number of a retired Woman Police Officer who
worked at the National Child Protection Authority earlier. She had

6 Step by step instructions are provided on how to conduct investigations in the booklet
that is presented to Police Officers at their regular training sessions
See: Sexual and Gender based Violence- A quick reference guide for Sri Lanka Police
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