Prologue – Jakaas

“The body of every man who molests a woman without her consent should rot.”

The seed for this story first came to me in 2021. For a long time, I carried it quietly, unsure if it would survive. Stories are like seeds—some die before they take root, while others grow into tall, unshakable trees if life gives them enough water and light.

The idea for Jackass tried to die many times. But the world around me refused to let it go. I kept seeing and hearing things that forced the seed to grow.

I saw videos—Sri Lankan women bravely posting evidence of men abusing them on buses.
I asked my readers: “What is the most unpleasant experience you’ve had on public transport?” The answers were heartbreaking, angry, and too many to ignore.
I spoke with survivors, psychiatrists, and ordinary passengers. The things they told me shocked me, even as a Sri Lankan myself. Some truths were hard to believe, but even harder to turn away from.

I gathered all of these voices and carried them within me. Four years later, in January 2025, they became the first draft of this work.

On the surface, Jackass is a fictional story about a violent serial killer. But underneath, it is about something very real: the daily abuse, humiliation, and fear faced by women in Sri Lanka’s buses and trains. It is about the silence they are forced to keep. It is about the shame that hides their wounds.

This book is not just a story—it is a mirror. A mirror held up to a country where thousands of women suffer in silence every single day, on their way to school, to work, to life.

When you read this, remember:

• The victim could be your daughter, your sister, your wife, or your mother.

• The abuser could be your brother, your father, your friend, or your neighbor.

Shame and fear keep most women quiet. They go home, they take a bath, they try to wash it away. But the wound remains. It becomes both physical and mental corruption—eating away at their spirit, their trust, their lives.

That is why this story had to be written.
That is why Jackass exists.