Mrs. World says she's 'ready to hand over the crown' after being arrested for snatching tiara off Mrs. Sri Lanka during beauty pageant

• Mrs. World Caroline Jurie has given up her crown amid the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant controversy.
• Jurie was arrested for allegedly injuring the winner of the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant, Pushpika De Silva.
• Footage showed Jurie forcibly removing a tiara from De Silva's head moments after she was crowned.

Caroline Jurie, the reigning Mrs. World, announced that she's given up her title after she allegedly injured the new Mrs. Sri Lanka, Pushpika De Silva.

Jurie addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant, which was televised on Sunday from Colombo, in an Instagram video on Friday.

"I know I burst a few bubbles, created conversation and even a discussion about class and values that a queen wearing [a] crown should stand for," said Jurie, who was crowned Mrs. Sri Lanka in 2019 and Mrs. World in 2020.

Her remarks come after she was arrested on Thursday for forcibly removing the tiara off of De Silva's head just moments after she was crowned Mrs. Sri Lanka. Jurie claimed that De Silva was divorced, which is against pageant rules, and attempted to crown the runner-up. De Silva clarified in a Facebook post that she was separated.

De Silva said she suffered a head injury from the incident, resulting in Jurie and one other being arrested on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

"If class is defined by how one behaves in the eye of the public, I will let you draw [your own] conclusion [on] that. But if class is also defined by how you behave when no one is watching you and what values you stand by, that is the true test of character," said Jurie in the statement.

Jurie said she intended to promote fair play when she removed the tiara.

"I will always stand for what I believe is right," said Jurie. "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. I believe rules and regulations are there for a reason."

She added, "The Mrs. World pageant was not created to discriminate divorced or separated women but to celebrate the dreams of the married women."

Jurie concluded her statement by saying she stands for values "even if it means to stand alone in the front of disaster."

"I am now ready to hand over the crown," said Jurie, who then removed the tiara from her head. "After all, one fair chance is all a woman needs."

A post shared by Caroline Jurie (@caroline_jurie_official)

The Associated Press reported that Jurie and model Chula Padmendra were charged with simple hurt and criminal force. The women were released on bail and have court appearances scheduled on April 19.

Chandimal Jayasinghe, the national director of Mrs. Sri Lanka World, said the crown would be returned to De Silva.

"Only an individual who is legally divorced will not be allowed to compete in the pageant," he told Ceylon Today, an English-speaking language newspaper in Sri Lanka. "Pushpika may be in the process of a divorce, however, until a legal judgment is given on the matter, she is still considered a married woman, therefore we cannot comment any further on the matter."

A post shared by Pushpika De SilvaMissWorldSL (@pushpika_desilva)

Jayasinghe later told BBC News that he was "disappointed."

"It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage and the Mrs. World organization has already begun an investigation on the matter."

In a press conference following the ceremony, De Silva spoke about being a single mother in Sri Lanka.

"There are a lot of single moms like me today who are suffering in Sri Lanka," said De Silva. "This crown is dedicated to those women, those single mums who are suffering to raise their kids alone."