Sri Lankan police have rounded up hundreds of young lovers for kissing in public following complaints that the overt displays of affection caused embarrassment to others.

Nearly 200 couples have been briefly detained in the districts of Matara and Kurunegala over the past two weeks, police spokesman Prashantha Jayakody said.

"We have taken them into custody for indecent behaviour at a public place," Jayakody said. "Usually we free them after informing their parents. Charges are not pressed."

A resident in the town of Matara, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Colombo, said young couples were sometimes acting intimately on the beach as many could not afford the privacy of hotels.

Sri Lankan police are also known to occasionally round up so-called "umbrella lovers" who shelter under parasols in scorching sun along the coastal promenade in the capital.

相關(guān)中文報道

法新社10日報道，斯里蘭卡警方圍捕了上百對當(dāng)街接吻的情侶。斯里蘭卡一位官員表示，情侶間的這種親密行為令很多斯里蘭卡人尷尬不已，抱怨不斷，警方因此展開此次突擊行動。

斯里蘭卡警方發(fā)言人稱，過去兩周內(nèi)，警方僅在馬特勒和庫魯內(nèi)格勒兩市就拘留了近200對當(dāng)街接吻的情侶。

該發(fā)言人還稱：“我們拘禁這些年輕人是因為他們在公共場合行為不雅。通常在告知他們的父母后，我們會將其釋放。他們不會被起訴。“

一位居住在馬特勒市的居民說，情侶之所以會在街上親密，是因為他們沒錢去旅館開房間。

據(jù)悉，斯里蘭卡警方偶爾還會跑到海邊圍捕所謂的“陽傘情侶”，即如果二人共撐一把陽傘在熾熱的太陽下在海邊散步，就有遭逮捕的危險。