Pushpika De Silva accused Caroline Jurie of injuring her head in the onstage scuffle
By Melissa Roberto
Reigning Mrs. World was arrested on Thursday for pulling the crown off Mrs. Sri Lanka’s head, allegedly causing the beauty pageant queen to suffer injuries.
Earlier this week, Mrs. Sri Lanka, whose name is Pushpika De Silva, accused Caroline Jurie, the winner of the Mrs. World 2020 competition who is also from Sri Lanka, of injuring her head after she stormed the stage and declared that a rule states the winner of the contest must be married and not divorced.
“There is a rule that prevents women who have already been married and are divorced, so I am taking steps to make the crown go to second place,” Caroline Jurie states in a video of the incident posted by the Colombo Gazette.
After a brief, non-violent struggle to get the crown from De Silva’s head, Jurie placed it on the runner up, prompting De Silva to walk off stage. However, in a Facebook post about the incident De Silva noted that, although she is separated, she is “an un divorced woman” and therefore feels that the crown was improperly and “insultfully” taken from her.
Tense situation at Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant
A tense situation arose at the Mrs. Sri Lanka for Mrs. World pageant held in Colombo last night with the crown being removed from the winner by Mrs. World 2020 and outgoing Mrs. Sri Lanka, Caroline Jurie. #Srilanka #lka #MrsSri Lanka #MrsWorld
“A true queen is not a woman who snatches another woman’s crown, but a woman who secretly sets another woman’s crown!” she added.
Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said police received a complaint from De Silva claiming her head was injured.
Rohana said Jurie and a model, Chula Padmendra, were arrested Thursday on charges of “simple hurt and criminal force” and were later released on bail. The two women have been ordered to appear in court on April 19.
Jurie declined to comment as she left the police station.
The incident at Sunday’s pageant, which was attended by the prime minister’s wife, created a huge uproar in the Indian Ocean island nation. On Monday, organizers of the pageant said they would return the crown to De Silva.
