The Colombo High Court has sentenced a three-wheeler driver to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of procuring an Uzbek woman for prostitution after she was brought to Sri Lanka with the promise of employment.
High Court Judge Lanka Jayaratne also imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on the convicted man, identified as Lawrence.
According to the case, the woman, identified as Oksana Karpova, was offered employment in Sri Lanka in late 2020 through another Uzbek woman known as “Jasmine.” She had allegedly been promised a job paying USD 1,500 per month or employment caring for children.
After arriving at Bandaranaike International Airport, she was received by Jasmine and her Sri Lankan husband, Lawrence, a three-wheeler driver, and taken to a house in Negombo.
The court heard that she was subsequently forced to provide sexual services and was later kept at an apartment in Wellawatte. Her passport was allegedly taken away and her communications restricted.
The woman eventually managed to secretly contact her mother, who lodged a complaint with police in Uzbekistan. Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department subsequently intervened, rescued the woman and placed her in a safe house.
The Attorney General had filed the case under Section 360A(1) of the Penal Code in connection with procuring the woman for prostitution at a Colombo hotel.
During the trial, prosecutors also produced bank records showing that part of a payment made by a person who obtained sexual services from the woman had been deposited into Lawrence’s personal bank account.
The High Court found that the prosecution had established the case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the accused to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. (Newswire)
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