A lecturer at the Addalaichenai Teacher Training College in Ampara has been arrested on suspicion of sexually harassing female teacher trainees by showing them pornographic videos, police said.
The arrest was made by the Women and Children’s Bureau of the Ampara Police Division, the Daily Mirror reported. Police said the conduct had continued over a long period.
Why no complaint was made
The detail that explains the delay sits in the investigation’s own findings. Police said the trainees refrained from complaining about the lecturer because they feared being penalised with reduced marks in subjects he taught or supervised.
That places the alleged conduct inside a direct academic power relationship: the person accused of the harassment was also the person grading the women who might have reported it. Teacher training colleges are residential, state-run institutions, and trainees’ marks determine their placement on qualification.
How the case came to police
The investigation did not begin with a complaint from the trainees. Police said it was opened on information received by Ampara Division Senior Superintendent of Police Priyantha Bandara Kasturiarachchi, and that the suspect was arrested after officers recorded statements from the women.
Further investigations are being conducted by Inspector K. T. P. Tharanga, on the instructions of the Bureau’s officer-in-charge, Chief Inspector Dayani Gamage, ASP Sampath Wikramaratne and SSP Kasturiarachchi.
Context
The case is the second allegation of staff misconduct at a state tertiary institution reported in Sri Lanka on the same day, alongside a filmed allegation that a lecturer physically punished students at Ocean University’s Negombo campus. In September the Prime Minister told university administrations not to overlook harassment complaints.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not name the suspect, give his age or position in detail, or state how many trainees gave statements. It does not say whether he has been produced before a magistrate, whether he has been remanded or released, what charges are contemplated, or whether he has been suspended from his post. No response from the college or the Ministry of Education is reported. LankaNewz found no other newsroom filing on the arrest.
