The Mrs Sri Lanka 2021 pageant ended in a major brawl after the reigning Mrs World stripped the winner of her crown after she was announced, and instead crowned the first runner-up.

At an glittering event held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre in Colombo last night, Pushpika De Silva was announced as Mrs Sri Lanka 2021 and was crowned by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's wife, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Mayor Rosy Senanayake and Chandimal Jayasinghe, according to Daily Mirror.

But when the winner was about to take her victory walk and cherish her victory, Caroline Jurie, the reigning Mrs World, stormed on the stage and in front of an astonished audience said there was a rule that divorcees could not be crowned as winners. She said that De Silva was a divorcee and hence was ineligible for the crown.

Jurie then charged towards De Silva. She removed her crown despite protests from De Silva, who looked shocked, and even made some efforts to stop her crown from being taken away.

After the crown was removed, Jurie placed it on the first runner-up's head while the initial winner angrily stormed off the stage. The first-runner-up was seen wiping her tears of joy at this sudden change of fortune. Jurie then hugged the new winner.

A massive brawl later erupted backstage as caught by the camera. The video footage of the entire event has gone viral.

Jurie and the organizers came under heavy criticism on social media, claiming that they should have known the background details of the contestants before enrolling them for events. Many even blamed Jurie for acting in an ad-hoc manner to make it a public spectacle and humiliating a contestant in such a manner.

Media reports later said that De Silva, who was uncrowned from the Mrs Sri Lanka 2021 title has been admitted to hospital due to head injuries. She is also said to be suffering from severe depression after the incident last night, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper quoting her assistant said that De Silva was not divorced and the accusations leveled against her by Jurie were “false.” De Silva has also lodged a police complaint against Jurie and Chula Padmendra, who supported Jurie's actions on stage, stating they intended to harm her by getting violent.