Public Security Minister Rear Admiral Dr. Sarath Weerasekera threatened to name and shame perpetrators of crimes such as child abuse, rape, and robbery through the media, in an attempt to deter such offenders.
He said that the photographs and details of perpetrators who commit acts of violence, child abuse, rape, robbery, and assault in public, will be released to the media in addition to facing legal consequences.
The Minister noted that the main aim of this exercise is to deter such perpetrators as their identities would be known by the public and they would be shamed.
Referring to an incident where a youth was assaulted by three persons using clubs and swords, he said with the aid of CCTV footage, the police was able to arrest the three suspects within a few hours. “I instructed the police to publish the names and details of these perpetrators along with their photographs through the media. In future, such persons engaged in rape, child abuse and attacks publicly would be released to the media so that the whole country would know who they are. By this they would be shamed and we hope that by this measure we would be able to deter and reduce such crimes.”
He noted that a mechanism is being implemented where an emergency hotline 118 will be established where the public could notify if any such incident taking place and the special team would immediately get to that location and take necessary action.
He also said, “As the Minister of Public Security, my responsibility is to create a society free of crime where people can live without fear or suspicion. If I cannot do that I would not hesitate to step down from my post,” he said.
Civil Defence Committees will be set up in the future to combat domestic violence and violence against women, the Minister said. “There are not only village thugs but also husbands who beat their wives with sticks. We will set up Civil Defence Committees to deal with such violence against women and other crimes in villages.This will allow us to apprehend these criminals.”
Public Security Minister Rear Admiral Dr. Sarath Weerasekera.
