Part of Nolhivaram Court set on fire

Fire has been set to the ceiling of washrooms in Hdh. Nolhivaram Magistrate Court.

A Nolhivaram person said that a group entered the Court washrooms through the back entrance at around 2.30am last night, used kerosene to set fire to the ceiling, and threw stones at the security guard on duty.

The person said on condition of anonymity that the security guard alerted people of the island of the fire, who managed to put it out before it caused any major damage. He said that the act is however extremely ‘shameful’ to the island.

“The security guard said that the incident took place at around two, maybe two thirty last night. He went looking when he smelt kerosene, and saw that the washroom was on fire. He then alerted the people of nearby houses. When he went behind the Court building to find out who did this, a group of people threw stones at him. He was not injured,” he said.

Nolhivaram Council suspects that the Court was set on fire due to the delay in attending to the cases submitted to the Court. The Council noted that several cases are pending due to the lack of a Judge.

“We strongly suspect that this act of violence is the result of dissatisfaction due to the delay in processing the cases submitted to the Court, especially the cases related to land tenure. Nobody would want things like this to be delayed. The Court has had no Judge for about 4 or 5 months. Some time ago, people of the island took to the streets and captured the Judge because cases were being delayed,” a Council spokesperson said.

People of Nolhivaram gathered near the Council and protested against the delay in land tenure cases on a previous occasion.