Attorney challenges Police right to arrest

Sarath MALALASEKERA

The Police have no right to arrest a woman who is at a brothel unless there is evidence that the woman had been kept at the brothel by force, said Senior Attorney-at-Law Kalinga Indatissa appearing for 15 women who were produced before Colombo Fort Additional Magistrate Ruwan Dissanayake by the Foreshore police under the Brothel House Ordinance.

There is no provision under Section 2 of the Brothel House Ordinance to convict or charge any woman found in a brothel house. According to the Sri Lanka New Law Reports a woman found inside the brothel house cannot be prosecuted under Section 2, the Senior Counsel said.

Normally the police could charge them under the Vagrant's Ordinance, but the police could only charge a woman who had no permanent residence in the brothel the Senior Counsel said. Senior Defence Counsel Kalinga Indatissa with Miss Danushka Ranasinghe, Siraz Noordeen, Malkanthi Wikramanayake and Rajith Weerasinghe appeared for the 15 women. The Foreshore Police appeared for the prosecution.

The Court directed the 15 women to appear in Court on October 7.