A mother residing in Kuliyapitiya filed fundamental rights petition with the Supreme Court yesterday, requesting the court to ensure her child’s fundamental rights over a false rumour that her child was HIV positive.

The petitioner stated that her child’s school admission to grade one had callously been denied to all the schools in Kuliyapitiya zone due to the said false rumour and she seeks a determination that her child is entitled to be forthwith admitted to Grade One in a government school within two miles of her residence.

The petitioner had cited Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Provincial Director of Education J.G.N.Thilakarathna, Zonal Director of Education A.S.K. Jayalath, the Principals of Bohandiya Primary School, Illukhena and Sripathi Royal College, Diyakalamulla, Education Ministry Secretary, IGP and the Attorney General as Respondents.

The petitioner states that she had a de facto marriage with person since 2009 and the child was born on September 17, 2010, and that father of the child died of Sepsis Tuberculosis on September 24, 2015. The petitioner further stated that a false rumour was circulated by persons with vested interests that the child is HIV positive and his father died of HIV/AIDS.

Her child was subjected to an HIV test which confirmed that her child was not HIV positive, the petitioner said.

She complained that the principals of both schools indicated unwillingness to admit the child due to the aforesaid false rumour and the protests by some parents.