No evidence to support 'sexual favour' claims: Sri Lanka Red Cross
An officer was accused of seeking ‘sexual favours’ from a beneficiary
Colombo: The Red Cross in Sri Lanka on Tuesday said it could not find any "credible evidence" that its officers demanded "sexual favours" from the beneficiaries of India-funded houses in the Tamil-dominated Northern province.
Earlier this month, the Kilinochchi branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) received a written complaint from a women beneficiary that a technical officer of the organisation sought "sexual favours" to speed up the process of cash payments of grants to rebuild her house.
The SLRC said in a statement that a five-member panel, comprising of representatives from International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and the SLRCS, found "no credible evidence" to support the claim by the complainant.
"The panel found no credible evidence to support the complaint relating to misconduct on the part of the SLRCS technical officer," it said.
The SLRCS said in a statement it has handed over a report and documents from the inquiry over the alleged request for sexual favours to the Ministry of Law and Order and Prison Reforms on Tuesday.
The panel was constituted after an inquiry by members of the SLRCS Governing Board was inconclusive, the SLRCS said.
"The President and the office of the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) in Sri Lanka then launched a second inquiry and appointed a five person panel which was comprised of men and women from the IFRC and from the SLRCS headquarters and branches. A representative from the Consulate General of India in Jaffna also joined the panel," it said.
The panel began its inquiry on October 11 in Kilinochchi and interviewed the beneficiary, who made the complaint, and 15 other people, including nine SLRCS staff members.
On October 16, the panel sent its findings to the SLRCS president. The Indian High Commission in Colombo had also inquired the SLRC over the allegations.
India had offered to build 50,000 houses in the war-ravaged north as part of its stepped up assistance in Sri Lanka's post-conflict phase.
The 36-month project was to be completed by middle of this year.