Sri Lanka police on Thursday arrested the reigning Mrs. World Caroline Jurie for assaulting a contestant Pushpika De Silva on stage by pulling the crown off her head and allegedly causing injuries. Jurie was later released on bail.
(1) Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021 held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre earlier today, ended a short while ago in a brawl.
Contestant number 20, Mrs. Pushpika De Silva was announced as the Winner and was crowned by Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Mrs. Rosy Senanayake and Chandimal Jayasinghe. pic.twitter.com/ttsxxJRVpz
— DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) April 4, 2021
Jurie first declared her the winner of Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant and later decrowned claiming that she could not hold the title as she was divorced. However, De Silva refuted the allegations and submitted that she is an estranged wife but is not divorced. “Being apart is one. Divorce is something else. I’m still an un divorced woman,” wrote De Silva.
As per the police, they received a complaint from De Silva wherein she alleged that she had suffered head injuries while Jurie was decrowing her. “We have arrested Jurie and (her associate) Chula Manamendra in connection with a charge of assault and causing damage to Nelum Pokuna (theatre),” said a senior police official Ajith Rohana.
Pushpika De Silva was declared “Mrs. Sri Lanka 2020” in a Sunday gala at Colombo’s Nelum Pokuna Theatre.
Caroline Jurie decrowned De Silva on stage while saying, “There is a rule that prevents women who have already been married and are divorced, so I am taking steps to make the crown go to second place.”
She snatched the crown from De Silva’s head and gave it to the first runner-up, declaring her the winner, prompting a tearful Mrs. De Silva to walk off stage.
She was crowned again later. “There are a lot of single mums like me today who are suffering in Sri Lanka. This crown is dedicated to those women, those single mums who are suffering to raise their kids alone,” said De Silva while addressing a press conference.
