SRI LANKA: A blatant attempt to cover up the suspicious death of a child monk 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the alleged murder of a young student monk at the hands of those whose care he had been left in. Fifteen year old W. M. Kapila Chandra Kumara was taken by his parents to study under the Diyamalkanda temple Chief Priest, Rev. Gunaratne. The Reverend told the parents that he would personally take the young boy under his care and educate him. Some time later however, the Reverend called for the parents to visit the temple as their son was unwell. On arrival however, the parents discovered that their son was in fact dead. Senior authorities at the temple all stated that they did not know how the young boy had died, but people soon started saying that he had hanged himself. A local police constable also demanded that the victim’s father accept that his son had killed himself. The father would not accept this however, believing that his son had been happy and had no reason to take his own life. When a local medical officer became involved, it soon became apparent that injuries to the boys body were not consistent with self-harm but were in fact the result of severe assault. The body was then sent to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) in Kandy who also concluded that the victim had been assaulted with a blunt weapon. The JMO therefore immediately advised the police to conduct an inquiry into this matter so as to ascertain by whom and for what reason death was caused. The police however, together with the local monks, told the father that he was not to speak of this matter for three months. Soon after, the coroner passed his judgment saying that the death was due to suicide by hanging and therefore the case was effectively closed.

To date, despite letters having been sent to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, the Dehiattakandiya Magistrate, the Senior Superintendent of Police and the Assistance Superintendent of Police, Maha Oya, the Human Rights Commission, Badulla, as well as the President and the Prime Minister, no action has been taken in bringing justice to this case. This case, therefore, requires your intervention. We ask that you please write to the relevant authorities listed below requesting them to take genuine measures to ensure justice is done. A proper and impartial investigation should be conducted into the complaint made by the father. Those found responsible for the death of the young boy should be arrested and prosecuted before a court of law. Disciplinary action should also be taken against any policemen who failed in their duty to uphold the law by aiding and abetting the cover-up that appears to have taken place in this incident. Full protection must be provided to the victim’s family while these actions are being taken. Finally, the Human Rights Commission should hold an inquiry into the matter and ensure that compensation is provided to the parents for their loss. The Human Rights Commission should also hold an inquiry into their own actions as to why, despite their being aware of this case, they had not pursued it prior to now.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Victim: W.M Kapila Chandra Kumara, 15, ordained as a student monk as Moraketiye Dhammasiri
Complainant: W.M. Wijeratne Banda (father) 50, Wewatta, Mahiyanganaya
Perpetrators: the Maha Oya Police and the Chief Incumbent of the Harasgala Pirivena, Rev. Sobhitha

Case Details:

The victim, W.M. Kapila Chandra Kumara was born on 20 April 1987 and was 15-years-old at the time of his death. According to his father, on 7 January 1993 he admitted the victim to grade one of the Ridi Maliyadda College and educated him until 30 March 1998. Then on 1 April 1998 he took his son to the Koswatte temple, Matara where he was ordained under the Rev. Premasiri as Moraketiye Dhammasiri. The victim stayed at the temple for 3 years and 6 months until the death of Rev. Premasiri, when the victim returned home but wanted to go to another temple.  His parents therefore, took him to the village temple — the Wewatte temple — on 13 February 2002 to meet with the Chief Priest who in turn took them to meet with the Diyamalkanda temple Chief Priest Rev. Gunaratne. This Reverend inquired after the victim and offered to personally take the victim under his care and educate him. On the same day, Rev. Gunaratne, admitted the victim to the Harasgala Pirivena in the Ampara District, whose temple was administered under him. [NB: A Pirivena is a Buddhist seminary] A few days later the victim’s family visited him and observed that he was happy at the temple. Thereafter the victim also came home about 2-3 times and said that he was very happy and pursuing his education successfully.

Then on 24 November 2002 the victim intimated to his mother that he wanted to bring a few of his friends home, visit places with them and asked for her to prepare some food for them all.  However, suddenly that day, Rev. Gunaratne sent word to the complainant to come to his temple. The father visited the Wewatta temple and met with Rev. Gunaratne, who said “brother, let us go to the Pirivena and visit the young monk since he had complained about a stomach-ache and chest pain”.  The father said, “There are other monks and laity at the temple who would give him medicine and look after him. We will visit him tomorrow”. However, Rev.  Gunaratne insisted that he visit his son together with his family. Accordingly the complainant, his wife, children and in-laws set out with the Reverend to the pirivena and arrived around 8:00pm.

When they arrived at the Pirivena premises they found it adorned in yellow and thronged by a large crowd. They also noticed the body of a priest lying in the preaching hall (bana maduwa) and looking inside they were horrified to see that it was the body of their son.  The body was placed on two benches and near the head was a ball of nylon rope. When the mother saw her son dead, she immediately fainted. They also discovered that the police had already visited the ‘crime scene’. In anguish the father cried out to Rev. Gunaratne: “Sir, is this the illness of my son?”  But the Reverend insisted that he was only informed that the child monk was gravely ill and that he did not know anything about his death.

Later the father met with the Pirivena, chief incumbent Rev. Sobhitha and asked how his son had died. This monk too said he did not know what happened. The father demanded to know, “if the chief incumbent of the pirivena does know about his war, then is it the villagers who should know?” Then Rev. Sobhitha said that the victim had had an affair with a girl, but when the father demanded to know where the girl was, he had hastily said that it was only a rumour.

At the time, Police Constable 24571 Jayatissa came and demanded the father to accept that his son hanged himself. The father however, was adamant that he would not accept this. Then the policeman handed him a document and demanded his signature.  When the father asked the nature of the document, the policeman scolded him, “that is none of your business, are you trying to teach the police”. A man dressed in white also walked up and warned the father, “In this area, things are done not according to how you fellows want, but how we want — because we are people of the village”. The father said that they were afraid and placed their signature on the document. Later they found out that the said person was the village representative (Gram Sevaka).

As his wife was feeling unwell, the complainant took her that night to the Maha Oya hospital where she was admitted overnight. At the hospital, when the father was explaining the incident, the District Medical Officer (DMO) told him personally that the Chief Incumbent of the Pirivena had visited him and said a young priest at his temple had committed suicide by hanging himself. He had asked the DMO to inquire into the case fast because he wanted to bury the body before the next day as he did not want the other child priests to get frightened. The DMO also told him that when he had asked Rev. Sobhitha whether the monk’s parents had been informed, he had replied that the monk did not have any relatives as they had been killed by terrorists. The DMO then told the Reverend that he could not come that night but could only come the next day.

The next day around 10:00am the DMO and the Health Officer arrived at the Pirivena and began their inquiries. The DMO also took the father to see the place where his son had allegedly hanged himself. There the DMO commented that “though only one person had died, there are several pairs of slippers at the place”. The DMO then removed the saffron robe and examined the deceased’s body and from where he was standing the father could see several injuries on his son’s back, arms and legs. He also saw a rope mark around the lower stomach, which was swollen and contusion marks on both sides of his son’s face. Furthermore, in the middle of the chest was a strange hole. Consequent to this examination, the DMO said that he suspected foul play i.e. the child monk had not committed suicide but had been strangled. He also said noted that he would be sending the body for further examination to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) in Kandy.

On 25 November 2002 the corpse was sent to Kandy, accompanied by the complainant, PC Jayatissa, another policeman, Rev. Gunaratne, a teacher-monk and a student monk from the Pirivena. The following day, at 9:00am the JMO spoke with Rev. Gunaratne and PC Jayatissa. The policeman asked the father to leave and they spoke with the JMO for awhile. Later the JMO also questioned the complainant. The father said that he was the victim’s father and that he was told his son was ill but when he arrived, he found his son was dead. The JMO said, “We will examine the body and find out how the boy had died”. The father also heard the JMO scolding the two policemen and accusing them of lying about the cause of death.

After the post mortem, the JMO said: “this person had not died due to snake bite, or poisoning but because he has been assaulted with a blunt weapon”. He also instructed the policemen to institute action in courts to ascertain by whom and for what reason death was caused. He also instructed that the body be buried (as opposed to a cremation). Later however, the policemen and monks requested the father not to divulge these facts to anyone including his wife, as that might prevent the apprehension of the perpetrators. They told him not to speak about the incident for 3 months. The father also maintained his silence during the funeral. However, when addressing the mourners at the cemetery after the burial, the father told everyone present about what the JMO had intimated to him.

However, the coroner held that the death was due to suicide by hanging despite, as insisted by the father, the JMO saying that his son was murdered.

The father also said that thereafter on several occasions he had visited the Maha Oya police station and requested the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) to investigate his son’s murder. But on all those occasions the OIC insisted, “The dead are dead. You do some casual work and make your living, without harassing us.” As the police failed to take any action, the father also complained in writing to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, the Dehiattakandiya Magistrate, the Senior Super-Intendent of Police, Maha Oya, the Assistant Super-Intendent of Police, Maha Oya, the Human Rights Commission, Badulla, as well as the President and the Prime Minister. Then on 8 January 2003 he was called to the Maha Oya police station and informed that the perpetrators had not been found yet, but as soon as they were apprehended, he would be informed – which to date he not taken place.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities listed below seeking their intervention in this very serious matter.

 

 

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