Police permission to start affairs; SSP says it's fake news

The Police Department was the butt end of jokes in sections of the mainstream and social media this week after officers raided a park run by a private institution in Homagama following complaints that underage couples were behaving indecently in specially made cubicles inside the park.

Police claimed that 24 underage couples were found inside these cubicles and that steps were taken to hand them over to their parents and guardians after issuing a stern warning to the 'kids'.

An argument between a senior police officer and a person from the park company over the raid also went viral on social media.

While some social media users voiced support for the police action, others questioned whether the police had their priority right to engage in what could be termed as moral policing when there were so many other, more serious, and violent crimes being committed seemingly at will.

Soon after the much-talkedabout raid, a document began circulating online purporting to be an “application” that anyone wishing to start a love affair must fill out and submit to the police station of the area where a person wishing to begin a love affair resides. This was recommended to obtain the necessary police approval to begin a courtship.

It may have been due to some people’s growing penchant for believing whatever they read online, or it may have been driven by the bizarre manner in which police have been prone to act in similar cases. Whatever the reason, some mainstream media outlets actually contacted Police Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nihal Thalduwa to verify the authenticity of the purported application. SSP Thalduwa firmly replied that there was no truth in the rumour that prior police permission should be obtained to start a love affair and stressed that the so-called application for such permission being shared online was fake.