AFP

Sri Lankan police were yesterday investigating the gang-rape of an 11-year-old girl allegedly by seven sailors in the island’s former war zone, a spokesman said.

The victim, who cannot be identified according to Sri Lankan laws, had been repeatedly raped by more than one man, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.

He said she alleged that sailors from a base in the Jaffna peninsula in the north had
attacked her.

“We arrested seven sailors, but the girl was unable to identify the rapists,” Rohana said, adding that investigations
were continuing.

The sailors were arrested over the weekend but freed on bail on Monday.

Rohana said while the investigations were underway, another girl aged 10 had come forward complaining that she too had been molested by
sailors a few months ago.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Council said there were serious grounds to fear that the victims’ families could be placed under pressure by military authorities deployed in the region.

The naval base is within the area where the majority Sri Lankans fought a 26-year civil war with Tamil
separatists.

Tamil National Alliance, an opposition party and the former political proxy of the now-defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said the alleged attack showed the security forces still based in the area were not protecting
residents.

“With this incident, young women are scared to come out of their houses,” Suresh Premachandran, a TNA legislator, said. “This shows they are not protected by security forces.”

Sri Lanka has strict laws protecting women and children, but there have been few convictions for sexual offences because of the reluctance of the victims to speak out or due to threats of more violence against them.

However, last week the High Court sentenced four men, including a ruling party politician, to 20 years in jail for murdering a British tourist and gang-raped his Russian girlfriend.

 Heroin hidden inside grinding machines seized

Sri Lanka seized a major heroin consignment smuggled from Pakistan, the customs department said yesterday.

The heroin was seized when grinding machines imported from Pakistan were checked at a customs yard by officials, Xinhua reported.

The customs department said that 100 kg of heroin was detected inside the machines imported from Karachi in Pakistan.

Sri Lanka has been a transit point for heroin smuggled from Pakistan and parts of India, which is then sent to other countries or to local dealers.

The heroin was hidden in two boxes and was brought to Sri Lanka from Pakistan.

The boxes were labelled as hardware items but when the boxes were opened customs officers found heroin hidden among bolt nails.

In March this year, the customs department seized 36kg of heroin at the customs yard after an attempt was made to smuggle it into the country.

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