Sri Lanka’s former first lady, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, was held at her Colombo home by anti‑corruption authorities on Wednesday. The arrest follows accusations that the Siriliya Saviya charity she is linked to misused 10 million Rupiah raised to buy a specialised scanner for the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital.
The charity claimed the scanner would help treat young patients, but officials say the Chinese government had already donated a similar machine, leaving the new money in question. Rajapaksa insists no wrongdoing has occurred and claims the funds are safe in the charity’s accounts.
She returned from Singapore, where she received medical treatment, and had filed a court petition to stop her arrest. The hearing of that petition is set for 12 October.
The move is part of renewed investigations into the Rajapaksa family that began after protests in 2022 that toppled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Earlier this year, their eldest son Namal Rajapaksa was detained over a questionable aircraft deal, and his brother Yoshitha faced corruption charges.
Sri Lanka’s current president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, spearheads a crackdown on corruption, aiming to restore public trust after years of political dominance by the Rajapaksas.
