( File photo: Sri Lanka police known for its inhumane practices)
While United Nations Human Rights Council was listening to allegations of sexual harassment of Tamil detainees by Sri Lanka military, Sri Lanka police was torturing a 17 year school boy arrested in suspicion of the rape and killing of 5 year old girl child in Kotadeniyawa, Gampaha district. The school boy was arrested on the 18th September, same day the human rights high commissioner held the press conference unveil the Sri Lanka war crimes report prepared by his office. He was tortured and made naked by the police and Assistant Superintendent of the Police had taken his nude photos.
The Daily Mirror report on the incident fellows:
Police beat me; took nude photos of me-School boy
“After being held at the Kotadeniyawa police station for three days, I was beaten and accused of committing this crime. They later took photos of me in the nude,” said the schoolboy who was discharged after being on remand for 12 days on suspicion of having killed Seya Sadevmi.
After he was disharged by Court he made this revelation. He also said, “On Wednesday the 16th four policemen came to my home. They were not in uniform. There was a friend of mine with me at that time. They took me and my friend with the laptop in a three wheeler saying they were taking us to record a statement. At the police station I was separated from my friend and taken to the back of the police station and forced to kneel. Then they beat me saying aren’t you the ones who committed this crime? My mother was not allowed to see me and I was not given any dinner. They continued to beat me. Then they removed my clothes and began to examine me, an ASP also joined in and took photos of me in the nude”
He said that he continued to deny the charge and say they were innocent of the crime. “They threatened to kill me, Later they took us to court and we were remanded in the Negombo Prison,” he said. He said he was not involved in the crime and there were no photos of Seya on his laptop.
Kelum Aththanayake, the other suspect, said that he was taken into custody at about 2.30 am on the 16th. He said they covered his face and took him in a van to some place, but they did not remove his blindfold. They had later uncovered his face on the orders of the OIC. He was not kept at the police station but somewhere else. “The police questioned me about my relationship with Seya’s family and I replied to their questions. Later they took me to the police station but did not give me a proper meal. They hung me by a rope and severely beat me saying that we were responsible for the killing. They kept me for three days, and I continued to deny their accusations. They also beat me with a plastic pole. Later, after producing me in court and getting me remanded they continued to assault me.”
The mother of the schoolboy said she was happy that her son had finally been released and lamented that he had been falsely accused. She said she was grateful to the attorneys, the class teacher, other teachers at the school and the media for helping to get her son released. “After my son was taken into custody by the police most people looked at us differently, and some looked at my son as though he were a beast. When my son was on remand our relatives helped me a lot. They shared my grief on hearing about the assault by the police, it is my firm wish to educate my son, therefore I appeal to everyone not to treat my son like a criminal,” she said.(Tharindu Jayawardene and Tony Karunanayake)