'Longest saree' wedding investigated over use of children in Sri Lanka
A Sri Lankan couple are under investigation for deploying hundreds of school children to carry the train of the bride’s saree during a wedding ceremony.
About 250 students from a state-owned school carried the bride’s two-mile train as she and the groom walked down a main road in the central district of Kandy on Thursday, local media reported. Another 100 students served as flower girls at the wedding.
The pupils were from a school named after central province chief minister Sarath Ekanayaka, who was a special guest at the wedding, according to media reports, which also said the saree was the longest ever worn by a bride in Sri Lanka.
The National Child Protection Authority said it was investigating the incident.
“We have started an investigation,” NCPA chairman Marini de Livera told AFP on Friday. “We are going all out because we don’t want this to become a trend.”
De Livera said deploying students for such ceremonies during school hours was against the law, with violators facing up to 10 years in prison.
“What they (the wedding party) did is a violation of child rights,” de Livera said. “Depriving children of education, risking their security and harming their dignity are criminal offences.”
About 250 students from a state-owned school carried the bride’s two-mile train as she and the groom walked down a main road in the central district of Kandy on Thursday, local media reported. Another 100 students served as flower girls at the wedding.
The pupils were from a school named after central province chief minister Sarath Ekanayaka, who was a special guest at the wedding, according to media reports, which also said the saree was the longest ever worn by a bride in Sri Lanka.
The National Child Protection Authority said it was investigating the incident.
“We have started an investigation,” NCPA chairman Marini de Livera told AFP on Friday. “We are going all out because we don’t want this to become a trend.”
De Livera said deploying students for such ceremonies during school hours was against the law, with violators facing up to 10 years in prison.
“What they (the wedding party) did is a violation of child rights,” de Livera said. “Depriving children of education, risking their security and harming their dignity are criminal offences.”
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