International school principal granted bail for molesting an eleven-year-old child

The mother might have thought that the dormitory of an international school located in an area not far from Colombo would be a safe environment for her eleven-year-old son. However, she was unaware of the dark past of the individual who served as the principal, director, dormitory warden, and also the science and mathematics teacher of that college.

Having been previously arrested on child abuse charges and having even changed his name through newspaper advertisements to hide from society, he is now caught in the net of the law, revealing the secrets of a serious sexual abuse committed against a child.

The beginning of the revelation of this incident was marked on the 17th of last month. The father of another child studying at the same international school made an urgent phone call to the father of the abused child. It was stated that the child's hands were injured due to an assault by the principal. The father immediately went to the school, took his child, and admitted him to a district general hospital for treatment.

During the examination conducted by the judicial medical officer at the hospital, signs of a serious condition beyond a mere assault emerged. In addition to cane marks and swellings observed on both of the child's arms from below the elbow up to the palms, the medical report noted the presence of dried wound scars on the child's penis. A day later, on the 18th, officers from the hospital police post recorded a statement from the child, where the child revealed that the principal had taken him to the office and bathroom at night and severely sexually abused him.

After the relevant statement was forwarded to the Kesbewa Police, the suspect principal was arrested. In further investigations, the police revealed to the court that this was not his first offense. On September 22, 2019, he had been arrested by the Piliyandala Police for a similar child abuse charge. After that incident, he had changed his name by publishing newspaper advertisements and had been holding several key positions in an international school.

Police investigations have revealed that about ten other children are residing in the dormitory of this school located in the Kesbewa area. Statements have been recorded from three of these children by the police, and it is reported that they gave these statements under severe fear. Meanwhile, after this series of incidents, when the mother came to withdraw the abused child from the school, the suspect did not allow it. Ultimately, the mother had to obtain the child's leaving certificate after reporting the matter to the court through the Probation Department.

Kesbewa Magistrate Mr. Janaka Samarasinghe ordered the release of this suspect, who had been remanded for 17 days, on bail of two hundred thousand rupees. Under the instructions of Chief Police Inspector K. P. Kalansuriya, OIC of Kesbewa Police, officers including Sub-Inspector Kanchana Maliyadda, OIC of the Children and Women's Bureau, and Police Sergeant Jesfer (66455), who is in charge of court proceedings, are conducting further investigations into the incident. The case is scheduled to be called again on December 01. The future course of action by the law will be decided on that day, accompanied by information about a past hidden from society by changing names, and the fearful statements of other children.