Two army personnel who had allegedly sexually harassed a young woman by touching her in an inappropriate manner were ordered to pay Rs.25,000 as compensation to the victim and plead in oriental fashion and beg pardon from the complainant today before the Colombo Fort Magistrate.
 
When the case came up before the Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne, two army personnel agreed to beg pardon and greet the victimised woman in oriental manner with the consent of the complainant party.

Defence counsel Kingsley Hettiarachchi appearing on behalf of the two army personnel, residents of Anuradhapura, informed Court that his clients were willing to beg pardon from the complainant in respect of a sexual harassment incident that took place on February 7, 2011 near a shopping centre in the Slave Island area.

Having considered the complainant’s compensation request, the Magistrate ordered them to pay compensation of Rs.25,000 to the complainant.

Accordingly, the Magistrate ordered the suspects to beg pardon from the complainant in the open Court and amicably settle the matter. (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)