Young girls trafficked

A government-appointed official in Sri Lanka has appealed to families in the north to protect under-age girls from sex traffickers.

Anoma Dissanayake of the National Child Protection Authority warned parents to be wary of strangers who offered to find their daughters jobs. Women from the north of Sri Lanka, which is in desperate need of development, were particularly vulnerable, she said. Earlier this week, nine women, including two under-age girls, were rescued from a brothel in the capital, Colombo. She says two of them were teenagers, while others include divorcees, widows and young mothers. One underage girl is a Tamil national from Mullaitivu and the other a Sinhala girl from Bandarawela, she said. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the abuse. The trafficking was busted when a teenage girl came to health facility to undergo family planning procedure. Mrs Dissanayake also says government is worried that trafficking within the country may rise as a result of surge in tourism.