Child discovered at deserted location in Wattegama as Police investigate circumstances surrounding disturbing case
KANDY, Thursday – Police have launched an investigation after a four-year-old girl was found assaulted and abandoned at a deserted location in the Wattegama area, in a disturbing case that raisesn urgent questions over the circumstances in which the child came to be there.
The child was discovered along Yatirawana Road in the Wattegama Police area and authorities subsequently initiated inquiries to establish what had happened and identify those responsible.
The identity of the child is being withheld by NewsLine in keeping with the protection that must be afforded to minors, particularly where violence or abuse is suspected.
Police investigations are expected to focus on reconstructing the child’s movements, establishing who had responsibility for her immediately before she was discovered and determining how she came to be abandoned.
The circumstances surrounding the alleged assault will also form a critical part of the investigation.
Beyond the immediate criminal inquiry, however, the incident again raises the issue of safeguarding children who may be particularly vulnerable because of their age and circumstances.
A four-year-old cannot reasonably protect herself, seek assistance in the same way as an adult or fully explain what may have happened to her. The responsibility consequently falls upon adults, institutions and ultimately the State to ensure that warning signs involving vulnerable children are recognised and acted upon.
The case should therefore be investigated with particular care, both to protect the child and to ensure that evidence capable of identifying those responsible is properly secured.
There is equally an obligation upon the media and the public not to circulate information, photographs or other details capable of identifying the child.
What matters now is her safety and recovery – and establishing precisely how a child of four came to be assaulted and left in such circumstances.
Be that as it may, a society’s commitment to protecting children is measured most severely when the child concerned is too young to protect herself.
