Police have arrested two suspects over the abandonment of a four-year-old girl at Wattegama, a day after the child was found assaulted and left on a by-road in the area.
The woman arrested is the child’s mother, aged 37, and the man is believed to be her partner, aged 28, NewsFirst reported. Hiru News said the man is alleged to have been in an extramarital relationship with her.
How the arrests were made
Officers attached to the Hali-Ela Police made the arrests on Friday morning, NewsFirst reported, stopping the pair as they travelled to a relative’s home in the Mawalagoda area along Kithalella Road in Hali-Ela.
Hali-Ela Police said the suspects will be handed over to the Wattegama Police, which is leading the investigation, for further inquiries and legal proceedings.
Background
The girl was found on Mudunegammedda road at Yatirawana, within the Wattegama police division, early on Thursday. Officers recovered her after a call to the police emergency line, and residents had raised the alarm after hearing her crying.
Police said at the time that she appeared to have been brought to the spot in a three-wheeler and left there, and that she was unable to give any information about her family or where she had been living. She was admitted to the Kandy National Hospital for treatment.
Investigators had been examining CCTV footage to trace the three-wheeler. No arrests had been reported before Friday.
