Maharagama millionaire infatuated with boys caught in the net

The darkest and most tragic crimes in society are often concealed by wealth and power.

Horana Chief Magistrate K.P.R. Lakmini Vidanagamage on the 8th of this month ordered the remand until the 20th of this month of fifty-year-old Senbakuttige Kithsiri, a millionaire businessman residing in Maharagama, in connection with an inhumane incident of renting a house in Horana, Bellapitiya area and abusing several young boys.

The most sensitive and shocking aspect of this tragedy is that the house rented through a friend was repeatedly used to bring in innocent boys of similar age, including the friend's own thirteen-year-old son. These children have been subjected to his abuse for approximately the past three months, and it was revealed in court that the thirteen-year-old child who was with him at the time of arrest had been cruelly abused by this businessman about twice a week. Currently, that child has been admitted to the Horana District General Hospital to obtain medical examination reports, with the intervention of the Child and Women's Bureau of the Horana Headquarters Police.

This incident, which raises serious questions about the safety of children in society, was uncovered due to the intervention of an alert local resident. On the 7th, when the suspect businessman had once again brought his friend's child to the rented house for abuse, police officers immediately acted on information provided by a neighbor to the 119 police emergency hotline, raided the location, and arrested the suspect. Local residents confirmed to the police that he had been bringing boys to this location for a long time, and even at the time of arrest, the suspect verbally abused and threatened police officers, displaying his wealth and power.

Further investigations into the incident are being conducted under the leadership of Horana Headquarters Police Inspector Ranga Perera, and Attorney Nalin Imbulgoda appeared in court on behalf of the suspect. How he was able to carry out such a racket for a long period of three months without any fear, and whether there are other innocent children who have fallen victim to him but have not yet been revealed, remain serious questions that need to be resolved.

This heinous crime, committed under the guise of wealth and friendship, repeatedly reminds us as a society how vigilant we must be towards children, and the scars etched in those innocent minds will never fade.