Cobra girl arrested

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

The Kollupitiya police last afternoon arrested Nirosha Wimalaratne, better known as ‘the cobra girl’ while she was at a hotel in Bambalapitiya, on an arrest warrant issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya on 4 April issued a warrant for Wimalaratne’s arrest for not being present in court for a hearing related to her alleged possession of a cobra in a room at a Kollupitiya nightclub.

However, filing a motion before on 8 April, the Kollupitiya police informed the court that the suspect might have left the country violating Court orders and requested an order directing the Controller of Immigration and Emmigration to arrest the suspect on arrival in the country. However, police sources yesterday confirmed that she had not left the country and arrested her at a hotel in Bambalapitiya. Wimalaratne is to be produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.  

At a previous magisterial inquiry, the court had issued an order to release the cobra to the suspect on a bond of Rs. 50,000.

In this case, in a complaint to the Kollupitiya police, a security officer of the Kollupiitya night club said the female employee of the night club had kept a cobra with her for two days.

He said he was compelled to lodge the complaint because the other women inside the room were frightened by the situation.

Kollupitiya police arrested the woman on charges of having violated provisions of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Ordinance. Police seized the cobra, and later handed it over to the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens.