-By Anubhawananda
(Lanka-e-News -2026.June.11, 11.30 PM) The Women Parliamentarians' Caucus of Sri Lanka is an organisation established with the objective of protecting women's rights and empowering women. The caucus was established on April 6, 2006, and its primary objectives are to empower women in the political, economic, and social spheres; eliminate all forms of violence and harassment against women; and improve women's representation and safety within Parliament and society.
However, the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus is a non-partisan parliamentary organisation operating within Parliament, independent of government-opposition divisions. More than ten such caucuses focusing on different subjects have been established within Parliament. None of these caucuses are organizations constitutionally established under the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Rather, they are specialised institutional structures officially recognised by the Parliament of Sri Lanka and operating under its facilities.
The Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, along with various other caucuses, is not a Standing Committee appointed under the Standing Orders of Parliament. Nevertheless, these caucuses operate with the approval and coordination of the Speaker of Parliament. These caucuses do not possess direct legal authority to enact legislation. However, they are able to submit proposals for legislation relating to their respective areas of concern. For example, the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus recently submitted proposals to amend the Parliamentary Standing Orders in order to prevent verbal harassment directed at female Members of Parliament.
Although structures such as the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus do not possess legal authority, they are parliamentary institutional structures established under the approval of the Speaker. According to political science, these may simply be defined as parliamentary pressure groups. The current Chairperson of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus of Sri Lanka is Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Sarojah Savithri Paulraj. All female Members of Parliament are members of this caucus.
Over the past few days, a social controversy has emerged surrounding the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus. The controversy stems from a tense situation that arose during a meeting convened by the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus on June 5 to "review the progress of investigations" into the alleged incident in which Pallegama Hemerathana is accused of seriously abusing a minor girl. During the meeting, members of the caucus, along with the police, strongly criticised the conduct of the National Child Protection Authority regarding the Hemerathana case.
Their criticism was primarily directed at Attorney-at-Law Sajeevani Abeykoon, Director of Law Enforcement of the National Child Protection Authority. Only female Members of Parliament from the National People's Power attended this meeting, convened to review the progress of the investigation. The attack directed at Attorney-at-Law Sajeevani Abeykoon was led by National People's Power MP and Attorney-at-Law Lakmali Hemachandra. She alleged that the Director of Law Enforcement of the National Child Protection Authority had acted conspiratorially in a manner that created difficulties for the government and the police. At the meeting, Lakmali Hemachandra further alleged that Sajeevani Abeykoon's intervention had discouraged police officers who were investigating the alleged serious abuse of a minor girl by Pallegama Hemerathana.
Lakmali Hemachandra questioned the Director of Law Enforcement of the National Child Protection Authority as to the basis on which she had stated in court that it had been necessary to "take a whip and go after the police" in order to have Pallegama Hemerathana arrested. Responding to what was characterised as an allegation and accusation against her, Sajeevani Abeykoon explained that, under the Child Protection Ordinance, it is a statutory responsibility of the National Child Protection Authority to ascertain whether justice is being properly served to victims in such cases and, where justice is not being adequately delivered, to intervene accordingly. She stated that, in this case, her authority had merely carried out that official duty.
However, unsatisfied with the response, Lakmali Hemachandra levelled various accusations against the Child Protection Authority. When Attorney-at-Law Sajeevani Abeykoon, Director of Law Enforcement of the Authority, attempted to respond to those allegations, Lakmali Hemachandra reportedly instructed her in a threatening manner to "answer only the questions being asked."
The real intention became apparent during the latter part of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus meeting, when the discussion turned to the progress of the investigation and future action in the case concerning the alleged serious abuse of a minor girl by Pallegama Hemerathana. At that meeting, National People's Power MP Lakmali Hemachandra recommended that the National Child Protection Authority be removed from the case.
She proposed that the National Child Protection Authority should withdraw from the child abuse case and that its role should instead be handed over to the Attorney General's Department. The saying that "the bull turns around to eat the coconut sapling" now seems evident. According to this argument, the allegations and accusations directed at the National Child Protection Authority were intended to remove it and replace it with the Attorney General's Department.
Through what is described as a notorious "operation" carried out together with the police and the Attorney General, Pallegama Hemerathana could allegedly be cleared of all charges and declared innocent. Lakmali Hemachandra's alleged conspiracy is very clear. However, it remains unclear whether this is her personal initiative or part of a broader program of the NPP government.
The National Child Protection Authority is an institution with a considerable degree of independence. The kinds of pressure that a government may exert on the Police Department cannot be applied to the National Child Protection Authority. If not for the intervention of the National Child Protection Authority and particularly its Director of Law Enforcement, Attorney-at-Law Sajeevani Abeykoon, Pallegama Hemerathana might still be moving about freely today.
It was the Authority's intervention that led to his eventual arrest. As a result, Sajeevani Abeykoon was subjected to insults, defamation, accusations, character assassination, and various threats on social media. She faced all of these challenges courageously. At that time, neither Lakmali Hemachandra nor the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus offered her even verbal support. Furthermore, for more than a month after allegations emerged that Pallegama Hemerathana had seriously abused a minor girl, neither Lakmali Hemachandra nor the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus publicly spoke out on the matter.
Their concern for the victimised girl appeared to emerge only after Pallegama Hemerathana had been arrested and produced before the Anuradhapura court. Until then, they—like certain major media institutions in the country- had behaved as though the incident did not exist. However, public outrage surfaced through social media, overcoming the dominance of mainstream media. The Women Parliamentarians' Caucus spoke out at that point not out of compassion for the victimised girl, but out of fear of public anger. After remaining silent for more than a month, the caucus suddenly became active, summoning the police, the National Child Protection Authority, and other parties, and is now conducting itself as a media spectacle.
Lakmali Hemachandra now displays great “concern” for the victimised girl and speaks publicly about protecting the girl's identity. However, if she had genuinely cared about the girl, she would have intervened before waiting for Pallegama Hemerathana to be arrested and brought before the Anuradhapura court. Lakmali Hemachandra and the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus are currently performing and believe the public can be deceived. However, the public is ahead of them and cannot be easily misled.
The first report regarding what the writer describes as Lakmali Hemachandra's “operation” during the June 5 meeting convened by the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus to review the progress of investigations into the alleged abuse of a minor girl by Pallegama Hemerathana was published by the Sinhala service of the BBC. On Wednesday (10), Lakmali Hemachandra reportedly stated in Parliament that those responsible would be brought before the Parliamentary Privileges Committee.
Political figures far more powerful than Lakmali Hemachandra have previously attempted to bring journalists before the Privileges Committee and punish them, and many of them ultimately ended up “in the dustbin of history.” Therefore, Lakmali Hemachandra will not be an exception.
The Women Parliamentarians' Caucus is not a Standing Committee established under Parliamentary Standing Orders. Therefore, journalists cannot be summoned before the Parliamentary Privileges Committee merely for reporting on discussions that took place within such a caucus.
Lakmali Hemachandra and the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus should immediately cease their involvement in the trial concerning Pallegama Hemerathana, claiming that doing so would be the greatest service that could be rendered to the victimised girl. The Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, as a collection of hypocrites, claims that the concern they displayed regarding the so-called “eggplant” insult was not shown toward the girl who was allegedly subjected to serious abuse by Pallegama Hemerathana. Lakmali Hemachandra, who has criticised the National Child Protection Authority, is outspoken and arrogant. Such figures not only damage the National People's Power government but also undermine the hopes of more than 6.8 million people.
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by (2026-06-11 20:43:51)
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