අවිවාහක කතක කෙලෙසූ පී.සී. වසර හතක් හිරේට - 'කෙලෙසූ' - අවශ්‍ය ද​? 'අවිවාහක​' - අදාළ ද​?

Abstract

On 15th February 2024, the Aruna newspaper reported on a police officer being sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a woman. In the headline, the term "Kelesima" (කෙලෙසීම) was used to describe the sexual assault, a word that implies impurity or uncleanliness, thereby casting unwarranted aspersions on the survivor. Additionally, the report emphasised that the survivor was a bachelorette, an irrelevant detail that could perpetuate harmful stereotypes.