The United People’s Party (UPP) says no citizen has the right to take the law into own hands and enforce punishment to any offender outside the established institutions.
In a statement by its propaganda secretary Chaminda Gunasinghe, the UPP says meting out justice at every nook and corner is a tradition of uncivilized tribalism and not of a cultured society.
The statement by the party led by public security minister Tiran Alles refers to a video being circulated in social media of an incident at a temple, in which a monk and two women were stripped and beaten by a group of people.
It says the conduct of the monk in question cannot be condoned, and the strictest possible action should be taken on that account.
On the other hand, the behaviour of the temple’s patrons to take the law into their own hands is similarly disgusting.
Releasing videoed footage of the incident to social media too, is unethical and unpardonable, says the NPP.
Agreeing to punish both parties to the incident within the established legal framework, the party commends minister Alles for having ordered swift action in that direction.
