Colombo--Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena flew to the island's former warzone of Jaffna on Tuesday to defuse rising tensions over the gang sexual assault and murder of a teenager, a spokesman said.
Sirisena met relatives of the 17-year-old school girl killed in the minority Tamil stronghold in the island's north two weeks ago, an incident that sparked clashes between residents and police, who were accused of failing to act swiftly.
"The president invited the mother and brother of the victim to lunch with him and promised speedy legal action against the perpetrators," Sirisena's spokesman Dharmasri Bandara told AFP.
The unannounced visit to Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Colombo, came as police obtained a new court order banning protests for two more weeks fearing further mob violence, after obtaining a similar ruling last week.
However, in the capital Colombo, hundreds of activists staged a peaceful demonstration at a busy intersection to condemn the assault and killing and demanded tough action against those responsible.
"Justice delayed is justice denied, expedite judgments in all sexual assault cases," said a placard carried by two activists.
Sri Lankan courts are notoriously slow and some sexual assault cases are dragged out for 10 years.
Police responded by firing tear gas at the protesters and arresting 130 people who took part, a move that residents said only fuelled anger.
Police said they have since taken nine men into custody but tensions remain high.
The protests were a rare public outburst of anger in Jaffna since the end of the decades-long separatist war in 2009 between Tamil rebels and the military that left at least 100,000 people dead.
Dharmasri said the president also met with about 200 girls from 17 schools in the Jaffna district to address any safety concerns.
AFP
