Lanka probes ‘longest saree’ wedding for using children

A Sri Lankan couple is under investigation for deploying hundreds of schoolchildren to carry the train of the bride’s saree during a wedding ceremony, authorities said yesterday.About 250 students of a state-owned school carried the train of the 3.2km (2 miles) long saree worn by the bride as she and the groom walked down a main road in the central district of Kandy on Thursday, local media reported. Another 100 students served as flower girls at the wedding.The students were from a school named after Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka who was a special guest at the wedding, according to media reports, which said the saree was the longest ever worn by a bride in Sri Lanka.The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said it was probing the incident.“We have started an investigation,” NCPA chairman Marini de Livera said, adding: “We are going all out because we don’t want this to become a trend.”De Livera said deploying students for such ceremonies during school hours was against the law, with violators facing up to 10 years in prison.“What they (the wedding party) did is a violation of child rights,” de Livera said. “Depriving children of education, risking their security and harming their dignity are criminal offences.”