"I raped 200 virgins and partied, the whole story is Varuni's 'creation'" - Saruwa Sunil tells Chamuditha

Sarauwa Liyanage Sunil, also known as 'Sarauwa Sunil', the former chairman of the Akurassa Pradeshiya Sabha, was a powerful and extremely popular figure in Southern Province politics at one time. Contesting from the United People's Freedom Alliance, he achieved a record victory in Akurassa, securing 19,566 votes and 18,861 preferential votes, and worked closely with the people.

On one occasion, during a massive flood disaster, he was brave enough to navigate a boat eight miles through strong currents, where even Navy boats could not go, to save the life of a pregnant mother. However, he might never have imagined that this immense popularity would create the greatest tragedy of his life.

On January 17, 2020, the Colombo High Court sentenced Sarauwa Sunil to 15 years of rigorous imprisonment on charges of raping a minor girl in 2012. Simultaneously, horrific rumors about him spread throughout society. It was publicized through the police and media that he had slept with between 200 and 400 virgins, or minor girls, and held a massive party at the Carlsberg Hotel to celebrate this crime. He was portrayed as a dangerous criminal before society. However, after all these infamous accusations, on October 11, 2022, the Court of Appeal acquitted and discharged him from all relevant charges.

Recently, joining journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrama's program, Sarauwa Sunil stated that all these child abuse allegations against him were merely a cunning trap set to destroy his political career. With Akurassa having no Member of Parliament for 27 years, he had the desire to contest the 2015 general election based on his strong voter base. However, his popularity became a threat to another politician who aspired to enter Parliament. Sunil states that when he rejected that politician's request to only contest for the provincial council, the conspiracy to eradicate him from politics began.

He alleges that based on this political necessity, false complaints were fabricated against him under the leadership of Police Officer Varuni Bogahawatta, who is currently in remand custody for another incident. According to him, the "party held at the Carlsberg Hotel" was not a celebration of sleeping with women, but merely an election campaign meeting held for his political journey. Furthermore, the police officer attempted to forcibly obtain false statements by threatening another couple arrested at the 'Sarada' hotel, which was run under Sunil's son's name, and the hotel manager, claiming that Sunil had come to the hotel with a minor girl.

The most sensitive issue is the subsequent confession of the alleged victim. Her mother was an employee at Sarauwa Sunil's tea factory. While Sunil was in Welikada Prison, the girl sent letters to the President and the Attorney General, stating that it was a great injustice to imprison Sunil by forcibly obtaining false statements from her. Crying in the Matara court, she also stated that she was forced to face this process due to severe threats from the police officer, and that no harm had come to her. Sunil reveals that the court also ordered the police officer to pay a compensation of one hundred thousand rupees (in FR 677 case) for cruelly torturing the girl while forcibly fabricating false evidence.

The destruction caused to Sarauwa Sunil's life and family due to these false accusations is immense. Both of his tea factories, which employed about 350 workers, completely collapsed, and today there are no employees there. His children were severely traumatized, unable to bear the horrific social stigma against their father. One child even attempted to commit suicide by hanging. Due to his arrest, his daughter, who excelled in school, was unable to properly face her scholarship examination and failed it. However, amidst all obstacles, she is currently studying to become a lawyer at a private law college.

Sarauwa Sunil's tragic story vividly reflects how the entire life of a popular politician and businessman was turned upside down in the face of a political power struggle and abuse of police power. Although he was acquitted and discharged from all charges by the Court of Appeal after years of legal battle, the reputation he lost, his businesses, and the lost childhood of his children can never be restored to him. Although he hopes to be completely free from this one day, the shadow of the fabricated "story of virgins" still looms over his life in the eyes of society.