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DW
12 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
LGBTQ+ discrimination persists in Sri Lanka – DW – 06/25/2025
LGBTQ+ Sri Lankans face violence, while promises by the government to repeal colonial-era laws remain unmet. When 20-year-old Maya went to what he thought was a meeting with a Facebook acquaintance two months ago, it turned out to be a trap. Maya described how he was met by four men who assaulted him for being gay. "They said 'How can you be like this? This isn't legal in Sri Lanka,' and beat me," Maya told DW. "I didn't go to the police, because there's no law, and they won't take any action." Sri Lanka has not yet repealed sections 365 and 365A of the penal code, colonial-era laws that criminalize "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and "acts of gross indecency." Although the law broadly applies to all kinds of sexual activity with no reproductive nature, it has "overwhelmingly been used against the LGBT community," rights lawyer Aritha Wickramasinghe told DW. Wickramasinghe works with iProbono, a global group of organizations providing free legal service to help people access their rights. Many of Maya's friends have cut him off for being gay, he said, adding that hateful comments directed toward him have deeply affected him. "When other people go and tell my family members, 'How can a man behave like this?' I feel really upset. I've even attempted suicide, that's how disturbed I was," Maya said. Sri Lanka's colonial-era laws echo those once seen across Asia. Many countries have repealed these laws — notably India in 2018 and Singapore in 2022 — but Sri Lanka still lags behind. Kannan Sathurshan, a 27-year-old performance artist, said he felt "trapped between society and the law, and unable to move forward" and was considering leaving Sri Lanka to live more openly with his boyfriend. "As a gay man, I can't be open about who I am," he told DW. "There are younger people who look up to me as a role model, but when they see that even I'm not open about who I am, how will they be?" Although the laws are not widely enforced, LGBTQ+ people in Sri Lanka continue to face discrimination in many aspects of life. "Sri Lankans never had a problem with homosexuality," said Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, founder and director of the LGBTQ+ organization EQUAL GROUND. "It was the British who brought this into our country, and it has been used by some politicians to vilify LGBTQI people in order to cause division within society," Flamer-Caldera said. She told DW that Sri Lankan society had "come a long way" in the last 20 years, with far more public support for LGBTQ+ people. However, she also noted a rise in hateful rhetoric towards the LGBTQ+ community. Wickramasinghe said that although the use of the law was going through its "quietest period," police officers continued to use it against LGBTQ+ people, contrary to reports that it was unenforced or dormant. He said his organization had previously handled cases of forced anal and vaginal examinations of LGBTQ+ people being conducted by the police. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Police media spokesperson Frederick Udayakumara Wootler told DW that consenting LGBTQ+ couples could not be prosecuted for having sex in private in the absence of a complaint that alleged a use of force or a lack of consent. He said the message of sensitivity towards LGBTQ+ individuals had been conveyed "very clearly" to police officers through circulars and directives, and said, "there won't be any harassment against" LGBTQ+ individuals. Sri Lanka's current government, led by leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake, promised in their manifesto to repeal the laws that criminalize the LGBTQ+ community. However, seven months after they won a supermajority in November's parliamentary elections, there has been no official action on the topic. A private member's bill was put forward in 2023 by parliamentarian Premnath C. Dolawatte to repeal the colonial-era laws. The same year, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court welcomed the move and said decriminalization would not be unconstitutional. The court ruled that the decriminalization of sexual activity amongst consenting adults "only furthers human dignity and as such this cannot be considered as being an offence that must be maintained in the statute book." Lawyer Wickramasinghe told DW the Human Rights Commission had also written to the government to ask them for decriminalization. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Adhil Suraj, the executive director of the LGBTQ+ organization Equite, told DW the government's lack of action was "questionable." He said Equite was planning to meet parliamentarians from the ruling National People's Power (NPP) alliance, opposition leaders and international stakeholders to advocate for decriminalization. "We can't express ourselves as who we really are," he said. The law is a really bad barrier to day-to-day life on many levels — economically, socially, politically." Maya believes that a change in the law will mean a change in attitudes both within the community and beyond. "If there's a [change in the] law, boys won't be scared to talk to each other, fall in love or have sex. They'll be free and without fear," he said. "I'm being open about this. Imagine how many people there are like me who can't talk about this openly."
The Print
05-05-2025
- The Print
Held in robbery bid, she was found to be trafficked, raped, pregnant at 16. At 19, she'll be a paralegal
At first glance, she looks like a playful teenager, but there is more to her than meets the eye. She is a victim, and also a survivor. The t-shirt, anklets and bag are, at once, telling but do not reveal the entirety of her story. 'Guess how much I bought it for? Only Rs 30,' she says, fixing her anklets, her eyes sparkling with pride about the bargain she made. New Delhi: With the glaring caption 'anti-social' on her baby pink-coloured T-shirt and an equally bright pink bag reflecting her defiance in the face of violations, she talks in long-winded sentences until suddenly she is quiet. The chimes of the payal (anklets) on her alta -dyed feet fill the ensuing silence. Trafficked at the age of 11-12 from Siliguri, West Bengal, into a sex racket in South Delhi, sometime between 2017 and 2019, she was moved from small, cramped rooms to dingy hotels over the next couple of years. She was pregnant at just 16, her bone ossification tests have shown. Then, in early 2022, her life changed. Apprehended on 3 March, 2022 in a robbery bid case, which was lodged against a gang on 1 March that year in Paharganj police station in Delhi, she underwent a medical examination—required before sending a juvenile to an observation home. The tests revealed that she was 14-16 weeks pregnant. Based on the medical test and her statements, the police filed a separate FIR under Indian Penal Code sections of rape and criminal conspiracy, and sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, on 12 March, 2022. The move gave her a dual status under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015—a child who needed care and a victim of crime. The Child Welfare Committee appointed a support person for her from iProbono, a women-led social justice organisation. Over three years later, the now 19-year-old girl lives in an aftercare facility. She paints and stitches, and is training to become a paralegal volunteer after the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi selected her this February. Her rape case is at a stage where the prosecution provides evidence before the court. The other four accused in the gang—Vikas Raj Koti Thapa, Mursaleen, Juned Aslam alias Sahil, and Meena Gautam alias Reena—are out on bail. Mursaleen faces charges of rape and criminal conspiracy under IPC, and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under POCSO, whereas the charges against Juned Aslam include kidnapping, procuration of a minor girl, and criminal conspiracy under IPC, and the failure to report or record a sexual offence against a child under POCSO. Koti Thapa faces charges of criminal conspiracy and exploitation of a trafficked person under IPC, and abetment and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under POCSO, whereas the charges against Meena Gautam are abetment under POCSO and criminal conspiracy under IPC and trafficking. From March 2022, the trafficked girl stayed at the observation home till her name was taken off the robbery bid case after the complainant did not name or identify her. No evidence was found against her in the investigation. The case is now in a stage, in which the prosecution presents its evidence in court. She was then sent to the CWC and placed in a children's home for girls. Later, in April 2024, she was sent to the aftercare facility. Also Read: Fast-track courts for rape and POCSO cases effective, govt likely to extend scheme for 3 yrs 'Don't want to go home' Held as a hostage upon being trafficked, multiple men raped her for over the next couple of years. They, however, are not accused in her case as she did not know their names and could not share any significant details about them. So, the prosecution case rests against only four persons. The foetal DNA results did not match with any of the DNA of any man arrested in the case. Her pregnancy was medically terminated during her time in the observation home. The survivor says that one Mamta brought her from Siliguri, West Bengal, but the woman has not been traced yet. The teenager does not remember when exactly she left home and how old she was. In her statements to the police and the court, she starts from when she was eight years old. The exact dates, months and sequence in her narrative are a blur, which could be misconstrued as inconsistent by some, but the fundamentals of her story never change. She never changes the part about how she fought against everything—gripping poverty at home, her father digging graves to bury her and the siblings alive, and the men and women who forced her into sex work. Speaking to ThePrint, Aishwarya Sinha, a senior social worker at iProbono, says, 'When I first met her, she told me that she was an orphan. Gradually, when she started to believe that I did not intend to cause any harm to her, she disclosed that she had lied and her parents were alive. She thought that people would pity her and send her back soon.' Sinha was appointed her support person, according to the POCSO Rules 2020. Some court records also say that her parents are dead. A social investigation report, prepared under provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, also says that there was no point in her returning to her village, where the vulnerability of being forced into sex work again increases. 'I do not want to go back home. It is unsafe there. I am trying to build a life here, I want to be completely independent,' she says, showing some jewellery designs she sketched. 'Everything is a blur' In cases of survivors of trafficking and rape, their minds often find it hard to retain the exact details. Sinha says, 'She gradually started opening up about her childhood, narrating how she was trafficked and the numerous assaults on her. But, at every meeting, she would come up with new facts, places, and persons, deviating from her previous narratives. I realised that she was finally able to process her trauma and share her pain with someone. She had not met anyone who had tried to see her as a child who sought love and care.' In some cases, it has been observed that victims tend to be favourably inclined to that one person who, among their abusers, is comparatively kinder. Juned Aslam, a Delhi Police constable under suspension since 2019, was that person to the survivor. She did not oppose his bail. He was the first among the accused to have made bail. The 19-year-old says that after the robbery bid, Juned Aslam, along with two others, fled the spot, leaving her behind with Mursaleen, who then allegedly sexually assaulted her. 'She shared that he [Juned Aslam] was the only person who asked her what compelled her to do 'such work'. She stayed with him for a few days and felt attracted to him. He would talk to her; it was the first time she felt a little heard. She developed a soft corner for him and was unsure about the court punishing him. Though she wants to ask him: 'Why did he leave her with random strangers?',' Sinha says. Court documents reveal that the teenager had studied till Class 6. One day, she approached a woman in the neighbourhood for work and got introduced to Mamta. Mamta told her that she would find work as a domestic help in Delhi and brought her to the city. 'I must have left home three to four years before 2022. I do not know which month or year, but yes, it was the first time I ever sat in a plane. I wanted to get out of my home to earn money. My brother had tuberculosis, and he was dying. I knew I had to do something to save him,' the 19-year-old says. Her brother died in 2023. Also Read: 7 women lured using 'Magic App' & raped — police in MP's Sidhi uncover racket, arrest 4 Threatened into 'sleeping with men' Upon landing in Delhi, Mamta took her to meet Reena Gautam in RK Puram. From that point onwards, multiple men raped her in different corners of the national capital, starting from a rented room in Panchsheel Vihar to hotels in Kishangarh and Mohammadpur. 'The first place I went to had two rooms. Men occupied one room. Mamta and Reena told me that we are going shopping. They bought me revealing clothes and asked me to get ready. Then, one man came, and they sent me with him to a hotel. He raped me. I do not know his name,' she says. Pausing for seconds, she resumes, 'The racket included auto and cab drivers stationed outside the hotel. There was no way I could run away anywhere'. The accused allegedly sent her to several different clients daily and collected payments. 'Reena aunty, and Mamta would threaten that they would kill me if I told anyone about anything and force me to go with those men. Once or twice, when a man asked me about my age, considering my height, I would tell them that I am 20 and of Nepalese origin, so I look younger, and my height is less. Mamta asked me to say that to clients,' she narrated in her statement to the police. In some cases, she was held hostage in the rooms of clients for days or weeks. The women 'told me to sleep with all of them, even if some of them would be the age of my father or brother,' the FIR reads. Then, she was also sent to stay with the arrested accused, Vikas Thappa, in another South Delhi house for months. Her statements to the police and case records reveal that he also sent her to various clients and did not allow her to leave her room on other days. Allegedly, Thappa also sexually assaulted her. In his defence, Thappa, while applying for bail, contested the charges on the ground of false implications, considering the girl did not mention his name in the FIR. The investigation officer, he alleged, tutored her statements to the police under 164 Code of Criminal Procedure. She had not levelled allegations against him in her statement before the magistrate under 164 CrPC. Her statement in front of the magistrate only mentions her rape after the robbery bid. It mentions that after the rape, the accused, Mursaleen, booked a cab for her to Juned Aslam's house. It refers to Juned Aslam as Sahil, the name he told her when introducing himself as a cop. While seeking bail, Juned Aslam defended himself by saying she had not levelled allegations against him. Hooked on hope After she returned from where she stayed with Thappa, Reena sent her to another Kishangarh accommodation. In February 2022, Juned Aslam took her back to Reena, court records reveal. She does not remember where he had taken her, but records mention that she told him she was not feeling well. 'He told me his name is Sahil. Reena told Sahil to drop me off in four hours. I was not feeling well. He started addressing me … asking if I was into prostitution by my own will, how I came to Delhi, etc. He was the first person in years who had spoken to me kindly. I narrated everything before him, and he told me he would help me,' the 19-year-old says. 'He told me he was a police personnel and showed me some photos. I started feeling inclined towards him. It felt like hope.' She adds that Juned Aslam had admonished Reena when she confronted him on why he did not bring the minor to her at the promised time. Court records show that thereafter, the girl started living with Juned Aslam alias Sahil. However, he allegedly took her for a drive with three others on one of their nights together. She does not remember all their names, but one was Mursaleen. On that night, the men in the car allegedly robbed a man of his phone and money in the Pahargaj area. 'They had put me in the car trunk, so I did not know what was going on,' she said. The prosecution stated in court that after the robbery bid, Juned Aslam and two others fled the scene, but their speeding car met with an accident, crashing into a police car. The teenager says: 'I was in the rear seat of Mursaleen's car. He drove to an isolated location, where he raped me.' While the court has discharged Juned Aslam in the robbery bid case, Mursaleen is on trial with two others, Rakesh Arora and Guljar. Juned Aslam, however, is an accused under the Arms Act 1959. The case, registered at the Vasant Kunj police station, is also at the prosecution evidence stage. (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: India's rape crisis isn't just legal failure. We raise men who don't know consent, respect
