A former Commissioner and a Senior Probation Officer of the Department of Probation and Child Care Services in North Central Province, who were arrested for abusing a 17-year-old girl at an orphanage in Anuradhapura in 2021, have been granted bail by the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court. 

The police had arrested a 49-year-old suspect and a 57-year-old suspect after investigations into the incident were initiated following a revelation made through the media on January 8, 2021, that illegal activities were taking place in a children’s home in the Anuradhapura area.

Police said an investigation had been initiated by the Anuradhapura Police Station on a complaint received from the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) on January 16, 2021.

Based on the complaint, officers at the Anuradhapura Police Station recorded the statements of the girls residing in the children’s home and officers attached to the North Central Provincial Probation and Child Protection Services Department and conducted investigations.

Based on the information revealed there, the advice of the Attorney General had been sought on legal action to be taken against the governing authority of the North Central Provincial Probation and Childcare Services Department regarding the cruelty inflicted on a 17-year-old girl, who was detained at a counseling center on court orders, by employing her as a cook in a children’s home.

Accordingly, the Attorney General’s Department instructed that a former Commissioner of the North Central Provincial Probation and Childcare Services Department and a senior probation officer be produced before the court for the offence of cruelty inflicted by neglecting and abusing the aforementioned 17-year-old girl and employing her as a cook in a children’s home. 

Accordingly, the suspect and the suspect were arrested today after arriving at the Anuradhapura Police Station.

The suspects arrested are a 49-year-old resident of the Wariyapola area and a 57-year-old resident of the Anuradhapura area.

The suspects were granted bail after being produced before the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court.