The girlfriend who worshipped Somawathiya with her boyfriend is in a predicament in the deep forest.

A 17-year-old girl who went missing while returning after visiting the Somawathiya sacred site with her boyfriend, and spent a night in the middle of the Thambala forest, which is dense with wild animals including elephants, was found by Pulathisigama Police after nearly two days through a prepared police operation. The girl who went missing and was later found is D., residing at No. 15D, Monarathenna, Welikanda.

W. Sanjana Hansani.

The couple had gone to the Somawathiya sacred site on a motorcycle around 11:00 AM on the 2nd of last month. While returning, they stopped the motorcycle near the 29th post on the Sungavila Somawathiya road and went into the jungle area. A person traveling on the road became suspicious about the motorcycle parked by the roadside and informed the Pulathisipura Police. Accordingly, day mobile patrol police officers immediately responded, arrived at the scene, and commenced investigations.

Police officers, having uncovered the owner's information through the motorcycle's registration number, shouted, "Roshan, we are the police, come out!" and subsequently, the boyfriend appeared before the police. Although the boyfriend stated that he entered the jungle due to a stomach ache, investigations revealed that the girl, upon realizing the police had arrived, became frightened and went further into the jungle by another route to avoid being caught by the police. The boyfriend, who responded in a frightened manner, was immediately arrested by the police.

Officers from Pulathisipura, Welikanda, Hingurakgoda, and Meegaswewa police stations, along with local residents, jointly carried out a massive search operation for the missing girl for nearly two days. The girl, who was later found, told the police that she spent the entire night under a tree in the middle of the Thambala forest, which is frequented by wild elephants, leopards, and bears, and that several wild elephants passed near her during that time.

After a two-day operation, police teams were able to find the girl in the middle of the forest yesterday (3rd) around 4:00 PM, and both the boyfriend and the girl involved in the incident have currently been taken into police custody.