This has never happened before. It is unbelievable but true.
At a Sri Lankan beauty pageant on Sunday, Pushpika De Silva was crowned Mrs Sri Lanka but the crown was snatched from her moments later. Soon after she won the title, the reigning Mrs World and 2019 Mrs Sri Lanka, Caroline Jurie, snatched the crown from Pushpika and awarded it to the first runner-up, India Today reported.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media. The video posted on YouTube by Colombo Gazette shows Pushpika being announced as the winner and Caroline Jurie crowning her. Seconds later, Caroline appeared on stage again and said that Pushpika was disqualified since she is a divorcee and only married women can hold the title of Mrs Sri Lanka.
“There is a rule that you have to be married and not divorced. So, I am taking my first steps saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up,” Caroline said as she snatched the crown from Pushpika’s head and presented it to the first runner-up, the report added.
The video has gone viral with over 12 lakh views so far.
This is what Pushpika wrote on Facebook, “I think, for the first time in the history of beauty pageant, not in Sri Lanka but in the world, even though my crown has been snatched in front of everyone insultfully, I will keep my head straight at this moment of writing and say that I am proud and proud as before. This is just another incident for me.”
Chandimal Jayasinghe, the national director of Mrs Sri Lanka World, told the BBC that the crown was returned to Mrs De Silva on Tuesday, the report said.
“We are disappointed,” he was quoted as saying, adding, “It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage and the Mrs World organisation has already begun an investigation on the matter.”
