Bodhi puja for rape suspect outside temple

by Madura Ranwala-July 24, 2012

A bodhi puja was held on Monday morning near the Polpitiya temple in Yakabedda, to invoke blessings on the remanded chairman of the Akuressa Pradeshiya Sabha S. L. Sunil charged with child abuse.

A source from the area said that the puja, in which the suspect’s wife, too, participated, had been held outside the temple as the resident monks had objected to it being conducted in the temple premises.

The source told The Island that there had been about six police personnel providing security to the suspect chairman’s wife and in addition there had been a police bus to provide security during the puja.

The chairman and two others have been remanded for having raped an underage girl in the area. The remanded chairman had allegedly lured the victim by helping her financially.

The Island learns that about six hundred to seven hundred of his party supporters participated in the puja to invoke blessings on the suspect.