Bopehetti Arachchige Rathnasiri v. The Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/0198/2016-2022

In the case between The Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo-12 (Complainant-Respondent) and Bopehetti Arachchige Rathnasiri (Accused-Appellant), the court addressed the issues arising from a conviction for incest under Section 364(3) of the Penal Code. It was held that sanction from the Attorney General was not requisite for prosecution under this section, that the DNA evidence corroborated by expert testimony was reliable, and that proof of the victim’s age was satisfactorily established. The appeal challenging jurisdiction, evidentiary sufficiency, and proof of age was dismissed, with the conviction and sentence affirmed. This decision reaffirmed the principles regarding prosecutorial authority in statutory offences, the reliability of forensic evidence, and sta