Student sexually abused in Gannoruwa Army Camp during leadership training

Tuesday, 04 November 2014 A female university student who was receiving leadership training at the Gannoruwa Army camp has been allegedly abused by an Army Corporal last month, Lanka Herald learns.

The female student who has experienced this horrific incident is said to be a second round recruit in the leadership programme of the Peradeniya University.

This Corporal named Silva, is said to have allegedly abused thegirl by putting his hand through an unlocked window in the girls’ dormitory and had fled after the girl had started screaming.

After hearing this chaos, a group of Army MPs had arrived at the dorms and after consoling the fear-stricken girls, had started searching the camp premises at once.

Although the Military Police had not been able to find any clue at the beginning, soon they had been able to discover a naked footprint in a pile of mud near the girls’ dormitory. Further searches had taken them to the soldiers’ barracks, where they had found a suspected person covered in a blanket.

The MPs have then noticed the mud marks in the man’s legs.

The Corporal had been taken in to custody and during interrogations, he had confessed of his deed.

It is reported that this soldier had first been kept in a cell at the Gannoruwa Army camp and has later been taken to another place the day after.

And the authorities have spread a tale about a “girl who had screamed due to bad dreams” in order to avoid the news from reaching the press.

When Lanka Herald contacted the Army Spokesperson Jayanath Jayasuriya, he said that if such an incident had occurred the Army would hold a full inquiry into the matter. He said that a preliminary Court Martial will be held in such a matter and that the convicts would be punished despite their rank.

However, denying of the report of such an incident, the Army Media Director said the Army is providing special security for the students who attend the leadership programme.

However, moments before publishing this story, Jayasuriya called us again and at that time he told an entirely different story.

“Such an incident has been reported. However it is not that much of a serious issue. But it has happened prior to the commencement of the leadership program. The Commanding officer of the Gannoruwa Army camp has demoted the accused corporal over to the rank of private and has transferred him to another camp,” he said.

Dhammika Priyadarshana