Mrs World gives up crown after onstage melee with Mrs Sri Lanka
- Caroline Jurie was earlier arrested after pulling the crown off local beauty queen Pushpika De Silva’s head
- In a video statement, Jurie says she stands against ‘injustice’ and calls the pageant ‘tainted’ after a dispute over the winner’s marital status
The reigning Mrs World on Friday relinquished her title while defending her decision to pull the crown off the head of this year’s Mrs Sri Lanka title holder, whom she claimed was unqualified to take part in the contest because she is divorced.
Caroline Jurie, the winner of Mrs World 2020, has been accused of injuring Pushpika De Silva, who was crowned Mrs Sri Lanka on Sunday at a televised pageant in Colombo. Jurie was arrested on Thursday and later released on bail.
In a video statement Friday, Jurie said she stood against “injustice” and said the pageant was “tainted”.
“My only intention was to stand up for the injustice caused to the competitors throughout this competition which was tainted with heavy politicisation,” she said.
Jurie added she wanted to ensure that every contestant had an equal opportunity, because she had seen “from the beginning” that the contest was corrupted. She stressed she did not favour anyone.
“I am now ready to hand over the crown,” she said, before removing the crown from her head.
Following Sunday’s bust-up, De Silva clarified that she is separated, but not divorced, from her husband. Mrs Sri Lanka belongs to the Mrs World beauty contest for married women.