Mrs. World Caroline Jurie has given up her crown after allegedly injuring Mrs. Sri Lanka World Pushpika De Silva at a recent pageant.
On Friday, April 9, Caroline issued a recorded statement to her Instagram, writing that she will “always stand for what I believe is right.”
“Every beauty pageant has a set of rules and regulations. What I was pushing for from the beginning was a fair stage. The rules and regulations are equal to all. Rules aren’t there so that we can find loopholes so that we can win at any cost,” she continued. “The Mrs. World pageant was not created to discriminate divorced or separated women but to celebrate the dreams of the married women.”
Caroline argued that women who are “divorced or separated” may compete in other pageants that do not require a specific relationship status.
Pushpika’s relationship status was part of the reason Caroline tried to grab the crown off of the contestant, who had won the Mrs. Sri Lanka World pageant. In a video of the televised broadcast, which was shared by the Colombo Gazette, viewers can hear Caroline say, “As for Mrs. World Inc, there’s a rule that you’ll have to be married and not divorced. So, I’m taking my first steps saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up.”
In a Facebook post, Pushpika claimed Caroline injured her as she removed the crown. In the same post, she clarified that she is not divorced, but is currently separated from her husband.
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As a result of the onstage incident, Caroline, as well as model Chula Padmendra, were arrested on charges of simple hurt and criminal cause on April 8. Since then, they have both been released on bail.
An April 5 press release from Mrs. World Inc. stated that the organization requested Caroline issue an apology. The statement read, “We are deeply disturbed and sincerely regret the behavior of our current title holder, Mrs. Caroline Jurie, Mrs. World 2020, at the crowning. Her actions goes against the Mrs. Sri Lanka code of conduct and predetermined regulations she is obliged to follow during her reign. We will review the aforementioned incident and we’ll be taking steps as deemed appropriate based on the outcome of our assessment.”
The statement also noted, “Let it be known, Mrs. World Inc. does not sit in moral judgment. If the delegate sent Mrs. Sri Lanka-World to compete in the international competition is legally married she will be accepted.”
Despite surrendering her crown, Caroline said she still disagrees with the organization’s decision to crown Pushpika, claiming, “My only intention was to stand up for the injustice caused to the competitors throughout this competition which was tainted with heavy politicization.”