Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant winner suffers head injuries after previous winner snatches crown from head

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The 2021 winner of the "Mrs. Sri Lanka" beauty pageant said she suffered injuries after a previous winner snatched the crown off of her head during a televised ceremony and claimed she was ineligible, according to BBC News.

Winner Pushpika De Silva posted about the embarrassing incident on social media, mentioning "the pain of my skull when my crown was snatched from my head."

"Even though my crown has been snatched in front of everyone insultfully [sic], I will keep my head straight at this moment of writing and say that I am proud and proud as before," she posted on Facebook.

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According to the media outlet, shortly after De Silva was crowned, the 2019 winner, Caroline Jurie, walked up and forcibly untangled the crown from De Silva’s hair and gave the crown to the runner up.

Video of the incident surfaced on YouTube.

Jurie claimed De Silva was divorced and therefore ineligible to win the title.

De Silva denied the accusation in her Facebook post, saying she is not divorced but separated. She added that if she was ineligible, pageant leaders wouldn’t have allowed her to participate in the contest.

"If I wasn't fit at the beginning of this tournament they could have removed me," she wrote, adding that she's pursuing legal action.

Pageant officials told BBC News the crown will be returned to De Silva. The media outlet also reported that local police are looking into the matter.

FOX Television Stations reached out to De Silva and pageant officials for comment.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.