A lady doctor attached to the Anuradhapura Teaching hospital has been brutally raped by a rapist who had committed the crime threatening her at a knife point. The person who had committed the crime has been arrested within twenty four hours and he has been identified as former Army personnel who had deserted from the Army a few years ago.
The preliminary investigations have revealed that the victim, the lady doctor is of 32 years and a Tamil practicing at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital. The horrifying incident had taken place on the night of March 10 inside the lady doctor’s room in her official hospital quarters. The person who had committed the crime has been identified an army personnel who is a deserter from the Sri Lanka Army and a 34- year old resident from Galnewa a hamlet in the Anuradhapura district.
Anuradhapura is a holy Buddhist and a thriving agricultural area in the North Central Province. The historically significant Anuradhapura has several ancient Buddhist temples and the branch of the holy Bo tree of the original Bo tree under which Buddha had attained enlightenment was brought to the Island by Emperor Ashoka’s son Mahinda and daughter Sangamita to Anuradhapura from India and they were the pioneers to propagate Buddhism in the Island.
Therefore the brutal rape of a Tamil lady doctor had taken place at this holy historic city two days ago and the incident had sent shock waves throughout the country. It was during the North and East conflict countless incidents of this nature had taken place in various parts of North and East Provinces. The foremost among them was the raping and killing of school girl Vithya in the islet area of Punkudutivu in Jaffna. So in this backdrop the raping of a lady doctor attached to the Anuradhapura Teaching hospital has sent shockwaves among the medical fraternity and the women at large in the country.
The lady doctor, who was on her night duty and she was attacked sexually while she was walking to her on –call room according to preliminary investigations. She was threatened at knifepoint, restrained, and then raped. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala has confirmed that the suspect was a military deserter and that five police teams were deployed to arrest him. Finally the Police teams had succeeded in nabbing the suspect through the signals from the mobile phone he had possessed.
The suspect was arrested in Galnewa. The Police teams are now working on investigating further into the incident and taking the legal action against the culprit. The GMOA, the country’s main doctors’ union, also called for stronger protections for female doctors and healthcare workers, who continue to face threats while working in public hospitals. “We are showing our solidarity with her to highlight the seriousness of the situation. It is not just doctors, all female health workers are under threat and they are in a state of shock,” Dr Chamil Wijesinghe, the GMOA spokesman said.
In the meantime Sri Lankan military and police forces have been implicated in widespread sexual violence, particularly against Tamil women in the North-East when the civil war was in progress in the two Provinces. According to news reports it was during the final phase of the North and East war, countless women and girls were subjected to sexual abuse, rape, and torture by the Lankan Armed Forces personnel. There are documentations of sexual violence against Tamil women at military camps, detention centers and the so-called “rehabilitation” camps. The documentations have been released by several Nongovernmental organisations which were engaged in the humanitarian activities on a large number of sexual assaults during the last lap of the civil war in 2009. Tamil women and human rights activists continue to report sexual harassment by the security forces, with perpetrators enjoying complete impunity.
Despite multiple international resolutions and UN reports, no Sri Lankan soldier or official has been held accountable for sexual violence crimes committed during the armed conflict. Whereas Thambuththegama which is another small hamlet in the Anuradhapura district is the home town of President Anurakumara Dissanayake. In the meantime a large number of foreign tourists are currently touring in the country and the historically significant Anuradhapura remains one of the popular tourist destinations in the Island.
Not only the foreigners, even a large number of local tourists particularly, the Buddhists also make pilgrimages to Anuradhapura to worship the temples and other historic sites in the region. Therefore the incident at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital where a lady doctor becoming a victim has sent shock waves throughout the country among law abiding citizens. On the other hand Anuradhapura being the significant tourist destination in the Island, the law enforcement officials have to take meaningful precautionary measures to ensure the safety of those who arrive in Anuradhapura as well as other popular tourist destinations in the Island.
