Pallagama Thero's blood is taken for DNA test

Pallewela Hemarathana Thero, the former Atamasthanadhipathi of Anuradhapura, who is accused in connection with the abuse of a fifteen-year-old minor girl, has been presented to the Government Analyst's Department in Colombo for a DNA test.

A special team of officers from Nittambuwa Police took this step yesterday (16) in accordance with a court order.

Investigations related to this incident began last April. At that time, the minor girl and the person alleged to be her boyfriend, who were staying in a lodge within the Nittambuwa Police division, were taken into police custody. Subsequently, the suspected boyfriend was also arrested by the police.

The victimized girl, who was taken into police custody, was referred to the specialist Judicial Medical Officer at Gampaha General Hospital for a medical examination. The medical examination revealed that the girl had been sexually abused on several previous occasions.

Based on the facts revealed in the judicial medical report, the Gampaha Police Division's Child and Women's Bureau extensively questioned the victimized girl and recorded her statements. She revealed that she was first raped by a chief monk of a temple in the Anuradhapura area. The girl also stated that she was abused on various occasions by her boyfriend, who is also her brother-in-law by kinship, and the police have reported all these facts to the court.