By Kalani Kumarasinghe CourtesyThe Daily Mirror

• Australian woman recounts horrid assault during her solo trip to Sri Lanka
• Victim alleges that no record was taken by Mirissa Tourist Police
• Mirissa Tourist Police asks Daily Mirror to contact Tourist Police HQ

When Sophie arrived in Sri Lanka for her long awaited vacation in March 2019, little did she know of the nightmare that awaited her in the island of paradise. Sophie, a frequent traveller, expected to make new friends and memories during her stay. Unfortunately for Sophie, neither the friends nor memories of Sri Lanka were of the kind a traveller would cherish.   

Sophie Roberts (name and identifying details changed to protect identity) an Australian citizen, arrived in Sri Lanka on March 23, 2019. During her stay, Sophie was brutally assaulted by a man she befriended. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Sophie recalled that she expected to stay in Sri Lanka for about a month. Last year I was travelling solo through Sri Lanka, something I do often and this time I had planned to stay for about a month. In my first week I met a guy from Weligama and after meeting we continued to see each other for about a week,” she recalled.   

I couldn’t move”

One night we went together to a party on the Mirissa beach and after the party we went back to where we were staying. We were just drinking and talking, listening to music,” Sophie said. According to Sophie, everything seemed normal until suddenly her new friend became enraged for reasons Sophie says, she will never comprehend.   

• Everything seemed normal until suddenly her new friend became enraged for reasons Sophie says, she will never comprehend

Suddenly, he pinned me down to the ground. I didn’t have the strength to break free. I was screaming at him get off me”, leave me alone” and yelling out for help,” she said. Sophie’s desperate cries for help went unheard. She recalls being overwhelmed by the strength of her attacker. After what felt like forever but was probably only a few minutes, I managed to break free of his grip and lock myself in the bathroom,” she said.

Sophie was injured and shocked. She had been briefly acquainted with some of her attacker’s friends, whom she quickly messaged about this incident. I got my phone and messaged some of his friends to come and get him. I didn’t know anybody else in the country that I could reach out to as I had spent most of my time with him.”   
Although Sophie locked herself in the bathroom for a long while, hoping that her attacker would leave, he didn’t. Instead he had changed his tone, and started talking to Sophie through the door, calmly. He was apologetic and begged for her forgiveness.   

I’m so sorry, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to be with you” Sophie heard. It seems so stupid now, but at that moment I felt the situation had cooled down enough that I could push him out of the room and lock the doors. I guess I was in shock and my body was just running on adrenaline.”

Sophie slowly opened the bathroom door, thinking that she was in control of the situation, convinced that her attacker had calmed down after the sudden outburst. Just as Sophie emerged from the bathroom, her attacker caught hold of her, and assaulted her again. This time, it was far more painful and frightening. 

He held me up against the wall. I couldn’t move. He had taken control over my entire body. I could only move my arms from the elbows down. So I lifted my hands and used my nails to scratch his neck in an attempt to hurt him to get him off me. It worked, and he jumped back. It was then that I saw the look on his face and immediately wished I had done nothing,” Sophie recalled.   

• when she slowly regained consciousness, Sophie saw the man standing over her. As fear gripped her body, Sophie’s instinct was to scream as loud as possible

The next thing she knew, her attacker punched Sophie in the face, twice. Her head smashed back against the cement wall and she collapsed on to the ground.  Sophie isn’t sure of how long she lay on the ground. But when she slowly regained consciousness, Sophie saw the man standing over her. As fear gripped her body, Sophie’s instinct was to scream as loud as possible. Despite her screams, nobody came to her aid. But it was enough to scare her attacker that he ran away from her. I locked the doors behind him, locked myself back in the bathroom and sat there all night, sick and shaking, trying to comprehend what had just happened.”   

Police didn’t listen or care!”

Sophie couldn’t even recognise her own face the following day. With a bleeding head injured from hitting the hard concrete wall and bruises all over her body, Sophie rang the local Police station for help. After four attempts of trying to explain what had happened to her, Sophie says the Police hung up on her after listening to her story. 

Sophie then decided to visit the Tourist Police unit in Mirissa. She was greeted by four officers, who listened to her story. She was then asked to identify the attacker through his social media account. They told me they would go and get him as they already ‘knew him well’ and this wasn’t uncommon behaviour from him.” But whatever hopes Sophie had of justice soon dwindled, as the police officers insisted that the matter could be ‘settled’.   

• Mirissa Tourist Police had asked the young Australian to write a ‘report’ of the incident on a scrap piece of paper, which she said was collected off the ground

Sophie recalls being hysterical at this point. I cried and cried, pleading with them not to bring him as I was terrified to see him again, knowing what he was capable of. They didn’t listen or care. Within about 15 minutes I was forced to face him and sit in a room with him for hours, while the police officers joked and laughed with him at my expense, making a mockery of me and the situation.” Sophie was humiliated, felt stupid and worthless.

Instead of recording a statement from Sophie or shielding her from the attacker, the four police officers of the Mirissa Tourist Police had asked the young Australian to write a ‘report’ of the incident on a scrap piece of paper, which she said was collected off the ground. After she wrote the so called report, the officers read it, when one of them decided to question Sophie; So you had sex?”   

Sophie began crying uncontrollably. One Police officer turned around, showed the report to the man who assaulted Sophie and then laughed along with him. They told him to sign it, telling him to change his signature so it was unrecognisable. They wouldn’t give me a copy of the report or a reference number or anything to prove I had ever been there. When I tried to take a photo of the signed report” with my phone, the officer threatened me and hit my hands,” Sophie said. Despite asking for a reference number for the complaint, or a copy of the complaint, Sophie received no proof of ever having lodged the complaint with the Police.

For over four hours Sophie sat at the Police Unit not knowing what was happening as nobody spoke to her other than continuously telling her to ‘please wait’. I said I don’t know what I’m doing here!? You’re just laughing at me!” And then one officer said are you scared?” then walked away and laughed.”   

To Sophie’s greatest horror, an hour later, another Police officer came to her to inform her about a new development. She was told that the man who abused her, was taking legal action against Sophie. They said I was facing legal action because of a scratch on his neck and that if I tried to press charges I would be arrested. I was utterly confused as to how this could possibly be the outcome as all the officers could clearly see that I was in pain and my face was all busted up. I realised that the Police were protecting him and I didn’t stand a chance. The officers forced me to sit alone in a room with him to settle the matter”. I was terrified and ran outside and rang my father.”   

 Sophie’s father, who was in Australia at the time, immediately phoned the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka. The consular officials reached her on a locally purchased mobile number and confirmed her worst fears. The lady who spoke to me said it was extremely unlikely that I could win a case against the attacker because of the unjust policing and court systems in Sri Lanka. It was then that I realised all this had been completely useless and so, I ran away.”   

A year of silence

The weeks and months that followed were the most brutal and agonizing for Sophie. Looking back at the week I spent with him prior to the assault filled me with shame. It took me a very long time to forgive myself for being so stupid and allowing myself to get into that situation. I couldn’t face up to tell anyone the truth, not even my own family and friends. Instead, I let the self blame eat away at me for over a year.”

After more than a year of silence, Sophie has finally decided to speak about her ordeal in Sri Lanka. My mind didn’t only become filled with deep darkness about what had happened in Sri Lanka, but much worse. It had me reliving another traumatic memory I had experienced when I was much younger that I thought I had already dealt with and overcome, a long time ago. I thought that after time passed these memories would fade and the pain that came with them would eventually just disappear. But it doesn’t. That utter worthlessness and deep depression you feel in those moments… You never forget that feeling,” she said.   

I could potentially help other women who may have gone through something similar, to know they are not alone and to help them feel brave enough to also share their truths

Sophie was sexually assaulted once before, when she was very young. Since then, for over ten years, she spiralled into a world of overwhelming pressure from society to hide her true feelings. But as she read about more women who have been assaulted and lived through the trauma of assault and abuse, Sophie felt empowered to speak up. 

Reading their stories has helped me to find my own self-acceptance and I didn’t feel so alone or guilty anymore. This is why now, I have decided to also share my own story. The possibility that I could potentially help other women who may have gone through something similar, to know they are not alone and to help them feel brave enough to also share their truths brings me the confidence that I need to do it,” Sophie said.    

Daily Mirror contacted the Mirissa Tourist Police Unit and the Tourist Police Headquarters to inquire into this incident, and were informed that Police would share information regarding the case later this week. Daily Mirror will continue reporting this story.