Reigning Mrs. World Caroline Jurie was arrested after she snatched the newly crowned winner’s tiara right off her head during the Mrs. Sri Lanka World 2020 pageant.
Jurie along with model Chula Padmendra were arrested days after the televised ceremony in Colombo and booked on charges of “simple hurt and criminal force,” a police spokesman Ajith Rohana told the Associated Press in a piece published Thursday. (RELATED: Miss America Board Members In Hot Water Over ‘Inappropriate’ Emails About Past Winners)
Pushpika De Silva claimed to have suffered injuries after the crown was forcibly removed from her head during the pageant. (RELATED: Miss Universe Pageant Will Air Live Amid Coronavirus Pandemic)
WATCH:
In video posted on You Tube, we see what happened moments before the reigning Mrs. World grabbed De Silva’s crown off her head after she was named the winner. The clip was shared by People magazine.
After De Silva does the winner’s walk wearing the crown and carrying flowers, Jurie suddenly announces to the crowd there is a Mrs. World rule that a contestant has to be married and not divorced, and then announced the crown for Mrs. Sri Lanka therefore goes to the first runner-up.
Jurie then takes the crown off the winner’s head and places it on the other woman’s head as De Silva rushes off the stage.
Pushpika later posted on Facebook that she wasn’t divorced and was only separated from her husband.
“On the other hand I’m not a divorce woman,” De Silva shared. “I say with great responsibility that I am not a divorce woman even at this moment of writing. If I was a divorce, I would dare them to submit my divorce scripts.”
“I haven’t hidden from the world that I’m with my child,” she added. “I also have personal reasons to be that way. But, being apart is one. Divorce is something else. I’m still an un divorced woman.”
Mrs. World Inc. has since issued an apology about the current title holder’s actions and De Silva has been re-crowned.
“We are disappointed,” Jayasinghe told BBC News reported. “It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage and the Mrs. World organization has already begun an investigation on the matter.”
Jurie and Padmendra have since been released on bail and are expected to appear in court on April 19.