Wed, 7 April 2021: The winner of a major Sri Lankan beauty award received head injuries after a stir on stage.
Beauty queen Pushpika DeSilva won the title “Mrs. Sri Lanka” at a function on national TV on Sunday.
Moments later, the 2019 winner seized Mrs DeSilva’s crown, declaring that she could not be divorced because she was divorced.
The award has now been returned to Mrs de Silva, with pageant organizers confirming that she is not divorced.
In the final of Mrs. Sri Lanka at a theater in Colombo on Sunday night, the judge won the winner of 2021 over Miss De Silva.
But 2019 winner Caroline Jury snatches her crown from Mrs DeSilva, who as a rule says contestants should marry and not divorce.
“There is a rule that prevents women who are already married and divorced, so I am taking steps to relocate the Taj,” Mrs Juri told the audience.
She placed the crown on the runner-up, provoking a turbulent Mrs. De Silva to walk off the stage, a video of the incident was shown.
Celebration on stage in the Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant
A video shows former winner Carolyn handing over the crown of runner-up to the jury
The organizers have apologized to Mrs De Silva, who says she is separated, but not divorced.
In a Facebook post, she said that she went to the hospital for treatment of head injuries after the incident.
Mrs De Silva said legal action would be taken for her “inappropriate and abusive” behavior.
“Today there are a lot of mums like me who are suffering in Sri Lanka,” Mr. De Silva said at a press conference. “This crown is dedicated to women, single mothers, who yearn to raise their children alone.”
Mrs Sri Lanka World’s national director, Chandimal Jaisinghe, told the BBC that Mrs D Silva would be returned to the crown on Tuesday.
“We are disappointed,” he said, “it was a disgrace how the Caroline jury behaved on stage and Mrs. World Organization has already started an investigation on the case.”
The police have interrogated Mrs Juri, who is the current holder of the title “Mrs World”, as well as Mr Jai Singh who has told about the incident.
Mrs. Sri Lanka World Beauty Competition is a major competition of the country. The Prime Minister’s wife was among the guests at the ceremony.