Death of minor domestic aide: three persons including wife & father in law of ex Minister Bathiudeen arrested

Three persons including the wife and father-in-law of former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen have been taken into custody over the death of a 16-year old domestic aide at the former minister's house, police said.

Police Spokesman Senior DIG Ajith Rohana said that wife of former ormer Minister 46-year old Sheyabdeen Ayesha, her father  70-year-old Mohammed Sheyabdeen and the broker who trafficked the girl to Bathiudeen's house were arrested following investigations by the police teams.

On July 3, a 16-year-old girl from Dayagama estate, Talawakelle who served as a domestic aide at former Minister's residence in Colombo was admitted to Colombo National hospital with burn injuries and later succumbed to injuries on July 15.

According to the police spokesperson  DIG Ajith Rohana twenty statements have been recorded by the investigation teams over the death of 16-year-old girl domestic aide at the official residence of former minister Bathiudeen. Two of those statements include two other domestic aides who served in the official residence in past. Both of them are 22 and 32 years old from the Dayagama area.

Both of them were brought to Colombo by the same trafficker named Ponnaiah Bandaram alias Shankar (64).

During the process of recording statements, 22-year-old former domestic aide told the police that she was raped twice by another individual at the official residence of Minister Bathiudeen located at Mckenzie road, Colombo from 2015-2019.

Police teams conducted a separate probe over this incident and arrested a 46-year-old Sheyabdeen Ismadeen, brother-in-law of the Minister under the charges of rape.

All suspects will be produced before the Colombo Magistrate today.