Convicted rapist wins best actor award

A well-known Sri Lankan actor who was convicted of rape earlier this month has won a prestigious film award.

Correspondents say the award for Best Actor, which was given by a group of Sri Lankan businessmen, is being seen as a gesture of sympathy for the man, Kamal Addararachchi.

He was sentenced to ten years in prison and fined more than sixteen thousand dollars one million Sri Lankan rupees for raping a sixteen-year-old girl.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service