A Mrs World beauty queen who yanked a crown from a pageant winner, causing head injuries, has been arrested by Sri Lankan police.
Caroline Jurie, the winner of Mrs Sri Lanka 2019, snatched the crown from this year's winner, Pushpika De Silva, at a ceremony broadcast nationally on Sunday.
Jurie seized the crown and placed it on the runner up, claiming De Silva couldn't be the winner as she was divorced.
"I have a small request. As for Mrs World - there is a rule that you all have to be married and not divorced. So I'm taking the steps to say that the crown goes to the first runner up," Jurie said.
De Silva is separated from her husband but not divorced. In a Facebook post, she said she suffered head injuries from the incident and had to be treated in hospital.
According to BBC, Jurie and the chief organiser of Mrs Sri Lanka, Chandimal Jayasinghe, were questioned by police on Thursday.
Jurie and model Chula Padmendra, who was also involved in the crown snatching, were then arrested.
A Sri Lankan police spokesperson told BBC they were arrested on charges of "simple hurt and criminal cause."
Jurie and Padmendra are due to appear in court on April 19.
De Silva has since been re-crowned following the incident she described as an "injustice and insult."
In a press conference after the event, De Silva dedicated her crown to other single mothers who are "suffering to raise their children alone."
The pageant's organisers said they are expecting a public apology from Jurie.
"We are disappointed. It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage and the Mrs World organisation has already begun an investigation on the matter," Jayasinghe told BBC.
Mrs Sri Lanka World is a major competition in the country. It's part of the Mrs World beauty pageant series for married women. The winners from each nation progress to the overall Mrs World competition.
