Sri Lanka pageant winner stripped of title after corruption claim

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan contender for a US beauty pageant has been stripped of her local title after she claimed corruption had prevented her from winning the global event, organizers said Wednesday.

Pushpika de Silva had already made headlines last year after she was crowned "Mrs Sri Lanka" in the capital Colombo, when the previous winner yanked off her tiara and said she had won unfairly.

In a series of social media posts, de Silva said she had failed to win the Mrs World competition in Las Vegas last month because its judges had been unduly influenced.

This year's global title -- contested solely by married women -- was won in Las Vegas by Shaylyn Ford, an American.

De Silva's claims had dented "the reputation of Sri Lanka globally," the local organizer said in a statement.

It added that she had been stripped of her Mrs Sri Lanka title and barred from using it for any promotional activities.

De Silva won the Mrs Sri Lanka title in April, but while on stage her crown was snatched by Caroline Jurie, the outgoing title holder.

Jurie and another woman are now facing charges for assault and damaging the Colombo pageant venue.

They claimed de Silva was ineligible for the prize because she was divorced. De Silva insisted she was legally married, but estranged from her husband.

In the social media posts, de Silva also accused some of her own team in Las Vegas of undermining her chances of winning the global title.

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