Sri Lanka Police said today that they wouldn’t rule out the possibility of having a female Inspector General of Police (IGP) in the near future.

Police Spokesman Priyantha Jayakody was referring to the occasion on which eight women were promoted to Superintendents of Police (SP) recently. 

The promotion comes after a prolonged battle by women officers who have filed four fundamental rights petitions over the years, seeking an increase in cadre positions available to females in the ranks of SPs and above.

Previously there were only two vacancies for female police officers as SP and most women officers had no career progression beyond the rank of Superintendent of Police.