Three including Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife arrested

Three persons including the wife and father-in-law of former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen have been arrested in connection with the death of a 16-year old domestic aide at the former minister’s house, police said.

Police Spokesman SDIG Ajith Rohana said that 46-year old Sheyabdeen Ayesha, her father  70-year-old Mohammed Sheyabdeen and the broker who brought the girl to Bathiudeen’s house were arrested accordingly.

They are expected to be produced before the court later today.

The officers of Borella Police on Thursday (July 23) had interrogated the parliamentarian’s wife over the incident.

In addition, the mother, stepfather, brother, and sister of the deceased teen as well as two former domestic workers of the Bathiudeen residence were also questioned by the police teams.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General appointed a Deputy Solicitor General and a team to provide legal advice for the action on the case.

The girl, a resident of Dayagama Estate, off Talawakelle was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital on July 3 with burn injuries while working as a domestic aide at the former minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s residence and died on July 15.

The girl was 15 years of age when she was brought to the parliamentarian’s residence at Bauddhaloka Mawatha for domestic work last October.

The judicial medical officer who conducted the post-mortem on the girl’s death concluded that she had been sexually exploited.