Fashion design teacher arrested for rape

By Norman Palihawadane

Mawathamagama police have arrested a private fashion design teacher for raping a teenage student of his class.

The teacher, a 40-year-old father of two, and the 19-year-old victim, were both tested positive for alcohol consumption at the time of the arrest, according to the police.

The suspect had been running a fashion design class in a building in the Mawathagama town. On the day of the incident the victim and several others attended his class.

It had been raining at the time the class ended and those who had means of returning home left the class but the victim and another girl stayed till the rain ended.

The fashion designer offered a soft drink laced with alcohol to the two girls. The liquor had been in a soft drink bottle. After consuming the drink, one girl left the place and the victim stayed back as the teacher offered to drop her at home.

The victim told police that she had been offered two more drinks and the suspect had then removed her clothes and raped her.

Hearing her shouting, a team of technicians, who had been fixing CCTV cameras in the downstairs of the building, rushed and rescued the naked girl from the drunken fashion design teacher and handed them to the Mawathagama police.

The Mawathagama police are conducting further investigations.