Assault on Maithri Gunaratne's son KHAKI FURY AT PELIYAGODA POLICE RATTLES LAW FRATERNITY

Torture and murder at police stations are nothing new in Sri Lankan history. Though many international human rights organizations have urged that the Sri Lanka police needs urgent reformations over the years little or nothing has constructive happened to clear the black marks on the police department.

- Susitha Fernando

The latest incident of police torture is reported from the Peliyagoda Police Station where a final year law student who was allegedly assaulted has suffered grievous injuries. On February 25 Migara Gunaratne, a final year law student at the Law College of Sri Lanka, on the instruction of his brother Charitha Gunaratne had visited the Peliyagoda Police Station to provide a meal to one of his brother’s (Charitha’s) client remanded at the police station. Migara was then subject to an assault by police personnel inside the Peliyagoda Police Station.

Maithri Gunaratne told the Daily Mirror that the incident was that of a mistaken identity. “Both my sons look alike for a person who does not know them very well. They (the police) thought it was my eldest son. The police had even said ‘you had caused a problem here and is your sickness over now,’ It was then that Migara had said that it was not he who had. It was then that the police trumped up charges against Migara.

“Eleven policemen including the Officerin-charge of the police station, Linton Silva, had mercilessly assaulted Migara. During the assault my son had mentioned my name and asked as to why they were beating him up and what wrong he had done. Then the assault on him somewhat stopped. Then they had taken him to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) and it was thereafter only that everything had come up. The JMO had ruled that given the condition of the patient he could not be sent off and he needed to be warded,” said Maithri Gunaratne.

Attorney-at-law Charitha Gunaratne, told the media that Migara was brutally beaten up at least ten policemen when he went to give some food to his client, who was detained at the Police Station, on February 25 night.

He alleged that the policemen had mistaken his identity and brutally assaulted his brother under the assumption that it was him.