‘Sexual abuse of female workers in Parliament’: Rohini alleges bid to silence victims

By Saman Indrajith

SJB Matale District MP Rohini Kumari Wijeratne yesterday said that certain senior officials accused of sexual abuse and harassment of female employees in the Housekeeping Department of the Parliament, had started to collect statements from victims denying the occurrence of any such incidents.

MP Wijeratne told Parliament that there was reason to believe that some powerful politicians backed the process of forcing the victims to issue letters retracting the allegations of sexual abuse and harassment so that they could see the end of the probe.

MP Wijeratne said: “It has been reported that some senior officials have sexually abused female employees of the Housekeeping Department of the Parliament.

These officials have harassed the women who refused to give in. After this revelation, the Secretary General of Parliament appointed a committee to probe this. It seems that the probe is now being influenced by very powerful persons. The latest development is that the culprits have started collecting letters from the female employees of Parliament staff saying that they are not victims of sexual abuse. Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe said that a three-member committee had initiated an internal investigation over the complaints made by female employees attached to the Housekeeping Department of Parliament on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by senior officials.

Leader of the House, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said that the probe committee comprised three senior female officers. After their investigation, a report would be submitted to the Secretary General. The final decision would be made by the Secretary General of Parliament on the basis of the recommendations of the report, the Minister said.