Police Question Former Miss World After She Forces Crown Off Ms Sri Lanka’s Head

Police Question Former Miss World After She Forces Crown Off Ms Sri Lanka’s Head

By Lucy Caulkett-

Shrilankan police are investigating an incident in which Caroline Jurie(pictured), snatched a crown off the head of the competition’s winner at the Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant on Sunday, after the former title holder took the crown off the winner’s head.

Police confirmed  to The Eye Of Media.Com that  they are investigating a complaint made by de Silva on Monday against Jurie, and another woman identified as Chula Manamendra ,who forced the crown away from her and placed it on the runner up during the Sunday evening gala.

”We don’t have much to say right now except that an investigation is ongoing”, Shrilankan police said.

Jurie erroneously claimed she was a divorcee, and therefore ineligible to take part.  Jurie had mistaken the fact De Silva is not divorced, but separated from her husband.

Pushpika De Silva was crowned  the competition winner to applause and cheers from spectators in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

However, the “Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021” contest at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa theatre descended into a farce after the declared winner, Pushpika de Silva, was forced out within minutes by her immediate predecessor Caroline Jurie.

Jurie claimed de Silva was disqualified because she was divorced, a claim that is denied by the original winner who minutes earlier had been crowned by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s wife, Shiranthi.

A video of the event was widely shared on social media Monday with many criticising both the organisers and Jurie, the current reigning Mrs. World for the brawl of beauties.

“If Mrs. World stands for demeaning other women by the reigning Mrs. World, then we no longer need men to put down women, because women do it better,” said Sri Lankan woman journalist Munza Mushtaq said in a twitter.com message. “Utterly shameful!”

“What is the point of beauty without grace,” asked another woman editor Marianne David. “… Extreme lack of grace, dignity, decency on display.”

Police said distraught de Silva had been hospitalised after the de-crowning. She had complained of a head injury as her crown was pulled off along with pins holding up her hairdo.

Organizers placed the winners’ sash around De Silva and the crown on her head. Shortly afterward, the pageant’s 2019 winner and Mrs. World 2020, Caroline Jurie, took to the stage to cause enormous disruption.

She picked up the microphone and said: “I have a small request,” she said. “As for the Mrs. World Inc., there’s a rule that you’ll have to be married, and not divorced. So, I’m taking my first step saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up.”

Jurie then turned to a stunned De Silva, forcefully took the crown off her head, and placed it on the first runner-up, who broke into tears and thanked the judges as De Silva walked away.

The Mrs. World series is an international beauty pageant for married women, founded in 1984. The winners of each country’s title advance to the Mrs. World competition to face off against each other. Under the rules of the pageant, contestants must be “married as of the date of entry.”

After the incident, organizers declared De Silva the official winner of the pageant, and said in a statement that contestants who were “legally married” were allowed to compete.

De Silva said in a statement posted on Facebook on Monday that she was currently separated from her husband “for personal reasons,” but they were not divorced. If she had been ineligible, she would have been removed from the competition at the start, she said.

She added that the competition organisers had already been made aware that she was a single mother.

She wrote:

”Living separately and being divorced are two completely separate things.

Pushpika went on to claim that she had to go to hospital with a head injury following the incident, and that she will be taking legal action.

She added:

”Finally, I say a true queen is not a woman who snatches another woman’s crown, but a woman who secretly sets another woman’s crown!!

Speaking at a press conference the following day, Pushpika said:

There are a lot of single mums like me today who are suffering in Sri Lanka. This crown is dedicated to those women, those single mums who are suffering to raise their kids alone.

The organisers of the event have reportedly since apologised to Pushpika, and have confirmed that she is indeed the true winner of the pageant.

The national director of Mrs Sri Lanka World, Chandimal Jaya, expressed disappointment at what occurred, describing Jurie’s conduct  on  stage as a disgrace, adding that th Mrs World organisation has already begun an investigation on the matter.

Insult

In her statement, De Silva described the incident as an insult and decried Jurie’s actions, saying true queens do not snatch other women’s crowns. In a second statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday, De Silva added she had forgiven those involved.The runner-up wearing the crown. Picture: Colombo Gazette

Pushpika De Silva, 31, was named Mrs Sri Lanka 2020/2021. Picture: Colombo Gazette Source: Supplied

Disturbed

Mrs. World Inc. organizers said in a news release that they are reviewing the incident.

“We are deeply disturbed and sincerely regret the behavior of our current title holder, Mrs. Caroline Jurie, Mrs. World 2020, at the crowning,” the statement said, adding the director of the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant will be asking Jurie to apologize.

“Let it be known, Mrs. World Inc. does not sit in moral judgment,” the organizers’ statement said. “If the delegate sent by Mrs. Sri Lanka-World to compete in the international competition is legally married she will be accepted.”

Eligibility Rules

Many beauty pageants have eligibility rules based on contestants’ relationship status.

The Miss USA pageant prohibits  contestants who are or have ever been married, as well as those who are pregnant or have ever given birth to a child, according to the eligibility rules for numerous state titles. Miss World America and other pageants have similar rules.

Contestants have in the past been disqualified or winners dethroned, after organizers found out they had lied about their marriages.

Carlina Duran was forced to hand over her crown after winning Miss Dominican Republic in 2012, with organizers saying she had violated the rules by hiding her marriage and claiming she was single.

In 2018, Veronika Didusenko was  also stripped of her Miss Ukraine  crown  title,  days later when it emerged she was a divorced mother.

Didusenko said in an Instagram post last year that England’s Equality and Human Rights Commission declined to pursue a case against the UK-based Miss World organization because it did not “advance their strategic priority aims,” and only a “very small number of women” were involved in the pageants.

 

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