Father arrested for alleged torture of children

Hatton Police have arrested a father on suspicion of tying his 6-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter to a tree and torturing them by rubbing chillie powder on them.

The suspect, a resident of Kudagama, Hatton, is a health worker in the Hatton Dickoya Municipal Council.

“The two children have been admitted to the Dickoya Base Hospital for a medical examination,” Hatton Police said.

The arrest was made based on complaints made by residents in the vicinity alleging that the suspect was addicted to alcohol and he assaults his wife and four children brutally when he is drunk. Residents had released the children who were tied onto a tree and had notified the Police. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the father had sent the two children to a nearby shop on Sunday (02) to purchase some things and had got infuriated when the children had purchased a bundle of firewood in addition to what they were instructed to buy. The arrested suspect was scheduled to be produced before the Hatton Magistrate’s Court yesterday (03).