Daily Times

The winner of Sri Lanka’s biggest beauty contest was stripped of her crown after false divorce claim, the BBC reported.

Pushpika De Silva won the “Mrs Sri Lanka” title at a ceremony in Colombo on Sunday. Shortly afterwards, the 2019 winner seized her crown, claiming that she was divorced.

Caroline Jurie, the 2019 winner, cited a pageant rule that competitors must be married and not divorced.

Jurie placed the crown on the runner-up. It prompted a tearful De Silva to walk off the stage.

The prize was only returned to De Silva after the organisers confirmed that she was not a divorcee.

The organisers apologised to the beauty queen, who also suffered head injuries in the on-stage brawl.

De Silva says she is separated, but not divorced.

Jurie placed the crown on the runner-up. It prompted a tearful De Silva to walk off the stage

She said she would take legal action for the “unreasonable and insulting” way she was treated.

“There are a lot of single mums like me today who are suffering in Sri Lanka,” De Silva said at a press conference.

“This crown is dedicated to those women, those single mums who are suffering to raise their kids alone.”

Chandimal Jayasinghe, the national director of Mrs Sri Lanka World, told the BBC that they were disappointed with what happened.

“It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage and the Mrs World organisation has already begun an investigation on the matter,” he said.