Abduction and alleged assault of a youth by Member of Parliament Hurinika Premachandra’s body guards, using one of her security vehicles and MP’s justification of abduction shows the how difficult to change the authoritative political culture of the country, says political opinion makers.
Mrs. Premachandra herself is a victim to political violence in Sri Lanka. Her father Bharatha Lashman Premachandra, a well-known politician himself was gunned down by a reveal politician few years ago on an election day.
Mrs. Premachandra who became a crusader against such violence and earned popularity is now charged with using violence on a personal violence.
As the Daily News reported, Amila Prasanga, who was abducted by UNP MP Hirunika Premachandra’s security personnel using her vehicle has told police that MP had threatened him not to be in the area and if he did he would be abducted.
UNP Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra had accepted that she intervened only to save a marriage.
The victim was taken to Hirunika’s Kolonnawa office and assaulted before being released due to police intervention. He was abducted while he was working in a drapery shop at Dematagoda.
Asked why the police had so far failed to arrest the MP Premachandra, who aided and abetted the abduction and threatened the victim at her office, Police Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that the investigations were being conducted in that direction.
Amila has admitted that he had fallen in love with the wife of one of the supporters of the MP and they had been caught by the paramour’s husband a few days back.
He has said that he is a father of two, but he eloped with the paramour on December 19 as she had been suffering at the hands of her husband.
Amila’s wife is overseas, he has told the police.
Hirunika has said, “It happened due to a personal dispute between a person said to have been assaulted by one of my supporters. The youth abducted my supporter’s wife and kept her forcibly. My supporter met me with his two children and explained what had happened. I sent all three to the shop where the man worked. My supporters had asked the man to come out and he did not comply. The others who went with him brought the man to my party office. No one assaulted him and he was only advised. I requested him to release the woman and he agreed. Everything was solved.”
Meanwhile the police blamed the media for not being able to produce the suspects at a identification parade, reported the Island.
Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera had slammed journalists saying the media-at large is ruining the country’s law and police investigations.
When asked about the media reports that the abductee had been assaulted quoting the Police Media Spokesman, he, the authority appointed by the IGP to liaise with media, said it should be checked with the reporter who wrote the story, and not with him. “I cannot correct each and every media report. I have better work to do. Speaking to journalists is not my only duty.”
SP Gunasekera also said that he had informed the CCTV to initiate action against television channels that aired the visuals of the incident before the identification parade with regard to the alleged assault and the abduction.
JVP speaking to media had said that black Defenders were used, instead of white vans, to abduct people today.
“Before January 08 people were afraid of white vans and today they fear black Defenders,” JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath told a press conference at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, reported Ceylon Today.
The JVP stalwart had further said that what Hirunika’s bodyguards had committed was only the tip of the iceberg and information about more such cases would surface soon.