Mrs. World Caroline Jurie Arrested After Snatching Crown From Mrs. Sri Lanka’s Head

Mrs. World Caroline Jurie was arrested for grabbing the crown off of Mrs. Sri Lanka’s head on stage, moments after the woman had won the title.

Jurie, along with model Chula Padmendra, were arrested for “charges of simple hurt and criminal cause,” police spokesman Ajith Rohana told BBC, after Jurie pulled the tiara off of Mrs. Sri Lanka Pushpika De Silva‘s head on stage and placed it on the head of the runner up. De Silva claims that she suffered injuries from when Jurie “snatched” her crown.

In a video of the event posted on YouTube by The Colombo Gazette, a Sri Lankan news site, Mrs. World is seen speaking to the audience, saying that De Silva cannot win the competition, citing a pageant rule that divorced women cannot be crowned winner.

“There is a rule that you have to be married and not divorced, so I am taking my first steps in saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up,” Jurie tells the audience as music begins playing to try to drown out her voice. She then walks over to De Silva and starts unpinning the crown from her head, while the first and second runner up look on. Panmedra walks onto to stage and helps grab the crown, and they place it on the runner up’s head as she cries, and De Silva storms off the stage.

Following the controversy, De Silva clarified that she is still married to her husband, though they are separated for personal reasons. The event organizers maintain that De Silva won the competition and said that anyone who was “legally married” could compete.

“We are deeply disturbed and sincerely regret the behavior of our current title holder, Mrs. Caroline Jurie, Mrs. World 2020, at the crowning,” the statement said, adding the director of the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant will be asking Jurie to apologize.

Jurie and Padmedra have not made public comments following their arrest. Both women have been released on bail and are due in court on April 19.