Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that S. Premalatha and her husband P.K. Harishchandra are seeking justice in relation to the sudden death of their daughter P.K. Shivanthi Kumari (33) who died on 30 October 2013 at the National Hospital of Colombo (NHSL). They state that their daughter’s husband, a professional soldier attached to the Sri Lankan Army, is responsible for her death. The parents have complained to several high-ranking police authorities; however, none of these authorities have investigated their complaint.
Finally, they filed a case in Marawila Magistrate court requesting a Death Inquest. In turn, the court has issued an order for the exhumation of the body. But the police authorities have failed to execute the order. The parents complain that undue influence of their deceased daughter’s husband, who is still in service, has stalled justice.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to information that the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received, S.
Premalatha of Thabbowa, Naththandiya, Puttalam District, is married and the mother of one child. She is married to P.K. Harishchandra, a retired government servant.
Their daughter P.K. Shivanthi Kumari married on soldier of Sri Lanka Army on 24th May 2004, following a love affair that had continued for several years. Later, they lived together at Kumari’s parental house. Several months after their marriage verbal altercations began between the couple. As Kumari’s husband had operational duties in Jaffna, he visited only for a few days after long service periods. The verbal abuse turned to violence and the husband started to beat Kumari. This happened on several occasions. Kumari detailed the reason for these altercations: her husband was having two extramarital affairs with two ladies, one in Kandy and the other in Madagama in Chilaw.
Suddenly, one day in 2013, Kumari fell sick and was admitted to Maravila Base Hospital. Doctors made several attempt to diagnose the cause of her illness but did not meet with success. Later she was transferred to National Hospital of Colombo (NHSL) and Military Hospital in Colombo for treatment. On several occasions, she was treated in a private sector hospital too. But she none of the treatments brought any improvement n her condition.
On 30th of October 2013, Kumari died at NHSL due to an unknown illness. Premalatha inquired about the cause of death from her husband. Premalatha inquired about the cause of death from her husband who states that she died due to an infection/germ which caused her to go into a shock causing an immediate heart attack.
Premalatha states that the death of Kumari was not a natural death. She states that her daughter’s husband killed her daughter. She provides the following reason for her daughter’s husband being responsible for the death of her daughter.
a) Following marriage Kumari and her husband had continuous disputes.
b) Kumari was severely beaten on several occasions by her husband.
c) Kumari went to the Maravila Police Station and made a complaint against her husband and sought police intervention by way of investigation and protection for her life. None of these complaints were investigated by the police due to the influence of her husband who is a military soldier.
d) Later, the mother of Kumari, observed that on several occasion Kumari’s husband forced Kumari to drink and eat suspicious drinks and foods. On those occasions, her husband closely observed whether she was consuming those drinks and foods. When mother questioned her daughter’s husband about the content of those food items he used to respond suspiciously.
e) Kumari and her husband had several arguments, which revealed to the mother that Kumari had certain knowledge about her husband’s illegal activities in military operations. The husband wanted to suppress this information. One time Premalatha heard her daughter challenge her husband, saying that she would reveal the facts of what her husband had done along with other military officers. The husband had committed thefts in Jaffna while conducting military operations and hidden the stolen goods in certain places. Those stolen properties included golden jewelry, statues of God Ganapthi, and several weapons (pistols). When Kumari challenged her husband that she would reveal this information her husband threatened her that she would be killed if she revealed any of this information.
f) When her daughter Kumari died, Premalatha found that there were three different death certificates issued for her death with several factual mistakes in each. Premalatha suspect the facts mentioned in these certificates.
g) When Premalatha inquired about who had accepted the dead body from the NHSL, there were no specific note on the name of the person who accepted the body.
h) Though the doctors have mentioned that Kumari died due to an unspecified illness, a post mortem examination has not been conducted.
i) Two days after the death of Kumari, the Premalatha learned that Kumari’s husband had married another woman.
Due to these reasons, Premalatha believes her daughter’s husband murdered her daughter.
After the death of Kumari, Premalatha made several complaints to high-ranking police authorities and requested impartial investigation. But the police authorities have accepted none of these requests.
She states that she has taken the following steps:
a) First she made a complaint to the Marawila Police Station and requested impartial investigation into the death of her daughter. Her complaint was not accepted.
b) Then she made a complaint to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Chilaw. The complaint was accepted but it was also not investigated.
c) Then she made a complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chilaw. The complaint was accepted and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Marawila was ordered to accept the compliant. Only then did the Marawila Police Station accept the complaint of Premalatha. Again, however, no investigation has resulted.
d) Then, she made a complaint to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG’s) Office of North Western Province, at Puttalam. This compliant was accepted. But it too was not investigated.
e) Then she filed a petition at Magistrate’s Court Marawila. Legal proceedings were started under the case No: BR/719/2014. The case was called and the parties were summoned and after five days of considering the credibility of the case, the Magistrate ordered a Death Inquest to investigate the death of Kumari. First the Magistrate ordered an exhumation of the body and a post mortem inquiry. It was ordered that the body be exhumed on 16th February 2015. The OIC of Marawila Police Station was ordered to conduct the initial work, along with the judicial officers, so the post mortem could be conducted and reported to the court. However, till today this task has not been executed by the police officers.
S. Premalatha and her husband state that police authorities have not investigate the death of her daughter due to the influence of her daughter’s husband. Premalatha further states that as he is a military soldier who is still in duty, the police authorities have been influenced not to investigate the case. Premalatha and her husband seek justice, and demand an independent investigation into the death of their daughter.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
The Asian Human Rights Commission makes following recommendations to the following authorities of the state of Sri Lanka.
a) The Inspector General of Police (IGP) needs to refer this case to the Director, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct independent and comprehensive investigation into the death of Kumari.
b) The IGP must order the Director CID to appear before the Magistrate of Marawila in the case of BR/719/2014 and assist the court by executing the order of the court for the exhumation of the body of the deceased and conduct the post mortem examination and report the same to the court.
c) The IGP should initiate an independent inquiry into the all the responsible police officers, including superior officers, for not accepting and not investigating the complaints, and not following the judicial orders given in relation to the death of the deceased.
d) The IGP should take steps against the responsible police officers under the Department Orders of the Police Department by way of internal inquiry.
e) The Commander of the Sri Lanka Army should to investigate the alleged illegal activities conducted by a soldier (husband of P.K. Shivanthi Kumari) during his operational duties and in relation to his wife’s death.
Please note that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Violence against Women in this regard.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ………………..,
SRI LANKA: police refused to investigate sudden death of woman
Name of the victim: P.K. Shivanthi Kumari
Alleged perpetrator: Officer-in-Charge (OIC) police station Marawila
Date of incident: 30th October 2013
Place of incident: Marawila Police Division
I am writing to express my serious concern over the case of Ms. S. Premalatha of Thabbowa, Naththandiya, Puttalam District, who is married and the mother of one child. She is married to P.K. Harishchandra, a retired government servant.
Their daughter P.K. Shivanthi Kumari married on soldier of Sri Lanka Army on 24th May 2004, following a love affair that had continued for several years. Later, they lived together at Kumari’s parental house. Several months after their marriage verbal altercations began between the couple. As Kumari’s husband had operational duties in Jaffna, he visited only for a few days after long service periods. The verbal abuse turned to violence and the husband started to beat Kumari. This happened on several occasions. Kumari detailed the reason for these altercations: her husband was having two extramarital affairs with two ladies, one in Kandy and the other in Madagama in Chilaw.
Suddenly, one day in 2013, Kumari fell sick and was admitted to Maravila Base Hospital. Doctors made several attempt to diagnose the cause of her illness but did not meet with success. Later she was transferred to National Hospital of Colombo (NHSL) and Military Hospital in Colombo for treatment. On several occasions, she was treated in a private sector hospital too. But she none of the treatments brought any improvement n her condition.
On 30th of October 2013, Kumari died at NHSL due to an unknown illness. Premalatha inquired about the cause of death from her husband who states that she died due to an infection/germ which caused her to go into a shock causing an immediate heart attack.
Premalatha states that the death of Kumari was not a natural death. She states that her daughter’s husband killed her daughter. She provides the following reason for her daughter’s husband being responsible for the death of her daughter.
a) Following marriage Kumari and her husband had continuous disputes.
b) Kumari was severely beaten on several occasions by her husband.
c) Kumari went to the Maravila Police Station and made a complaint against her husband and sought police intervention by way of investigation and protection for her life. None of these complaints were investigated by the police due to the influence of her husband who is a military soldier.
d) Later, the mother of Kumari, observed that on several occasion Kumari’s husband forced Kumari to drink and eat suspicious drinks and foods. On those occasions, her husband closely observed whether she was consuming those drinks and foods. When mother questioned her daughter’s husband about the content of those food items he used to respond suspiciously.
e) Kumari and her husband had several arguments, which revealed to the mother that Kumari had certain knowledge about her husband’s illegal activities in military operations. The husband wanted to suppress this information. One time Premalatha heard her daughter challenge her husband, saying that she would reveal the facts of what her husband had done along with other military officers. The husband had committed thefts in Jaffna while conducting military operations and hidden the stolen goods in certain places. Those stolen properties included golden jewelry, statues of God Ganapthi, and several weapons (pistols). When Kumari challenged her husband that she would reveal this information her husband threatened her that she would be killed if she revealed any of this information.
f) When her daughter Kumari died, Premalatha found that there were three different death certificates issued for her death with several factual mistakes in each. Premalatha suspect the facts mentioned in these certificates.
g) When Premalatha inquired about who had accepted the dead body from the NHSL, there were no specific note on the name of the person who accepted the body.
h) Though the doctors have mentioned that Kumari died due to an unspecified illness, a post mortem examination has not been conducted.
i) Two days after the death of Kumari, the Premalatha learned that Kumari’s husband had married another woman.
Due to these reasons, Premalatha believes her daughter’s husband murdered her daughter.
After the death of Kumari, Premalatha made several complaints to high-ranking police authorities and requested impartial investigation. But the police authorities have accepted none of these requests.
She states that she has taken the following steps:
a) First she made a complaint to the Marawila Police Station and requested impartial investigation into the death of her daughter. Her complaint was not accepted.
b) Then she made a complaint to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Chilaw. The complaint was accepted but it was also not investigated.
c) Then she made a complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chilaw. The complaint was accepted and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Marawila was ordered to accept the compliant. Only then did the Marawila Police Station accept the complaint of Premalatha. Again, however, no investigation has resulted.
d) Then, she made a complaint to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG’s) Office of North Western Province, at Puttalam. This compliant was accepted. But it too was not investigated.
e) Then she filed a petition at Magistrate’s Court Marawila. Legal proceedings were started under the case No: BR/719/2014. The case was called and the parties were summoned and after five days of considering the credibility of the case, the Magistrate ordered a Death Inquest to investigate the death of Kumari. First the Magistrate ordered an exhumation of the body and a post mortem inquiry. It was ordered that the body be exhumed on 16th February 2015. The OIC of Marawila Police Station was ordered to conduct the initial work, along with the judicial officers, so the post mortem could be conducted and reported to the court.
However, till today this task has not been executed by the police officers.
S. Premalatha and her husband state that police authorities have not investigate the death of her daughter due to the influence of her daughter’s husband. Premalatha further states that as he is a military soldier who is still in duty, the police authorities have been influenced not to investigate the case. Premalatha and her husband seek justice, and demand an independent investigation into the death of their daughter.
Considering the case the Asian Human Rights Commission makes following recommendations to the following authorities of the state of Sri Lanka.
a) The Inspector General of Police (IGP) needs to refer this case to the Director, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct independent and comprehensive investigation into the death of Kumari.
b) The IGP must order the Director CID to appear before the Magistrate of Marawila in the case of BR/719/2014 and assist the court by executing the order of the court for the exhumation of the body of the deceased and conduct the post mortem examination and report the same to the court.
c) The IGP should initiate an independent inquiry into the all the responsible police officers, including superior officers, for not accepting and not investigating the complaints, and not following the judicial orders given in relation to the death of the deceased.
e) The IGP should take steps against the responsible police officers under the Department Orders of the Police Department by way of internal inquiry.
The Commander of the Sri Lanka Army should to investigate the alleged illegal activities conducted by a soldier (husband of P.K. Shivanthi Kumari) during his operational duties and in relation to his wife’s death.
I request your urgent intervention to ensure that the authorities listed below instigate an immediate investigation into the allegations of not investigating the suspicious death, and convict those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country.
Yours Sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Mr. N.K. Illangakoon
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440
Email: com@police.lk
Mr. Yuvanjana Wijayatilake
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk
Secretary,
National Police Commission
3rd Floor Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel/Fax: +94 11 2 395960
Email: polcom@sltnet.lk
Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No 108 Barnes Place
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
Email: sechrc@sltnet.lk
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
