The government is to introduce new legislation to allow abortions to be performed on women who get unwanted pregnancies as a result of being raped or due to involvement in sex trade, Minister Tissa Karalliyadda said in Parliament yesterday.

Delivering the concluding speech on the committee stage debate of the Child and Women’s Affairs Ministry, Mr. Karalliyadda said that the harshest possible punishments would be given to rapists and those involved in the sex trade under the law s currently being envisaged. The body of a person was found by police near a coconut estate in the Kotawila area in Weligama on a tip off given to police emergency. Some injuries were detected on his body and it is believed that the victim was murdered.

The magisterial inquiry was conducted on the same day and the body was sent to the Matara General Hospital for post mortem. Police seek the assistance of the public to establish the identity of the victim.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka