Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police attached to the Bulathsinhala Police Station allegedly assaulted a man and cut his hand with a knife while questioning him even though the police had full control of him on 12 April 2009. When the man was brought to the Bulathsinhala Hospital, a District Medical Officer ignored his condition and failed to examine him.
CASE DETAILS: (based on the testimony of Thalagala Pahalage Solomon and his son Thalagala Pahalage Ranjith Keerthi Kumara)
On 12 April 2009 Mr. Solomon, a labourer, went to the regular Sunday village fair in Bulathsinhala. At 2:39pm he was about to return to the place where his bicycle was parked after he had a disagreement with his wife. When he was close to the temple near the fair, two police officers on duty at the fair came from behind and shouted at him to halt. They asked him why he had hit a woman while one officer held him by his collar. Solomon said that the woman was his wife with whom he had a quarrel. But the officers started to assault him mercilessly. Solomon fell due to the assault and whenever he tried to get up the police assaulted him with their fists and boots. The police assaulted him on his body, head, ears, and back. When Solomon gave up trying to get up, the officers began to pull him up and continued to assault him. Solomon identified the two officers bearing Police Identity Numbers 77672 and 82079.
Another officer named Jayantha dressed in civilian clothes came on a motor cycle bearing number MI 9547. This officer joined in the assault and then instructed the two officers to take Solomon to the police station. Jayantha picked up Solomon’s bag that had been left on the ground and saw a knife inside the bag that Solomon used to cut grass and trees for his living. Coming back, Jayantha started to attack Solomon with the knife. He slashed Solomon’s hand many times demanding to know if Solomon was a thug to carry such a knife and if he had used this knife to attack the woman. Thereafter, Jayantha asked the two officers to take Solomon to the Bulathsinhala Hospital.
Solomon was given emergency treatment by the District Medical Officer (DMO) at the Bulathsinhala Hospital. His hand was stitched and then he was transferred to a ward. The two officers stayed by his bed side while Jayantha came from time to time.
In the evening the DMO asked Solomon who had assaulted him. Solomon told that he was assaulted by the police. The DMO did not believe him and said that the police do not assault people in such a brutal manner. Solomon continued to explain how he was assaulted and showed the doctor the places of his body that had sustained injuries due to the assault. But the doctor did not take notice of his statement and did not examine him further. He only treated the injury on Solomon’s arm which had to be sutured.
On following day, on April 13, the DMO again asked Solomon who had assaulted him. When Solomon reiterated that the police had assaulted him the doctor had asked him to get ready to be transferred to the Horana Hospital. Later Solomon was transferred to the Horana Hospital by ambulance. The hospital authorities at Horana did not ask him any questions, they treated his hand and discharged him on April 14.
According to Ranjith, Solomon’s son, when he went to the Hospital he saw his father on a Hospital trolley and two officers dressed in police uniform and another in civilian clothes near his father. He noticed that the officer called Jayantha had blood on his trouser leg. Jayantha then told Ranjith that his father has been cut by a knife and asked if he could be taken by a three-wheeler to the Horana Hospital. Jayantha had further said that Solomon had hit his wife with the knife and was running away when the police officers apprehended him and since he had already been attacked by someone and was bleeding they had brought Solomon to the hospital.
At that point however Solomon had interrupted them saying that it was Jayantha that had cut him with the knife. Then, Jayantha had scoffed that there was no need for him to cut up Solomon with a knife and hit. Ranjith says that he noticed that at that time Jayantha was very drunk. Jayantha then asked Ranjith to bring Solomon’s wife to the police station to make a statement. He asked Solomon’s wife’s and son’s names and asked an attendant there to note them down.
Ranjith then went to the Bulathsinhala Police Station with his mother. Jayajtha was there and personally took down her statement. This statement was with regard to the quarrel that her husband had with her at the fair. He asked her if she had seen her husband being attacked with a knife. She answered in the negative. He then threatened her saying that Solomon was saying that it was the police who assaulted him and that if he continued to say so, we know what to do. Jayantha then forced her to sign the statement without reading it to her or explaining its contents.
Ranjith further says that on April 13 when he went to visit his father in the hospital, a patient in the next bed told him that the DMO who had examined Solomon that day had not believed him when Solomon had stated that he had been assaulted by the police and that Ranjith should go and talk to the DMO about it.
When Ranjit met the DMO, the DMO then instructed him to lodge a complaint at the police station regarding the police assault and bring that form to him. At the police station this complaint was entered under the same number of the former statement made by his mother. However, when he brought the form to the DMO, Solomon had been already transferred to the Horana Hospital to which he was instructed to hand over the form. Accordingly Ranjith handed over the form to ward No 7 of the Horana Hospital where Solomon was being treated. Solomon was discharged on April 14 but was informed that the hospital officials were not able to tell him when the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) would be able to examine him.
At 11am on April 16 the two officers who had assaulted Solomon initially came to him at his house. Ranjith was also there. They were both dressed in uniform. They wanted to know what steps Solomon intended to take with regard to the incident. They requested if the matter can be settled they would accept that they were at fault.
On April 17, Solomon informed of the incident in detail by a written complaint to the Chairperson of Human Rights Commission, Chairman National Police Commission, Inspector General of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police Kalutara. On April 19, Solomon and his son Ranjith went to the Bulathsinhala Police Station at 3:30pm as they had been requested to come by the Bulathsinhala Police and made a full complaint about the incident.
They were again called to meet the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) at 8:30am on April 20. The OIC then accepted that Jayantha had cut Soloman with the knife and that Jayantha was in fault. The OIC requested to know how much money as damages they wanted. When Solomon said that he was unable to tell such a sum, the OIC instructed him to talk it over with his wife and decide.
On April 21, Solomon went to the Horana Hospital again for treatment. The bandage on his hand was removed. When he asked when he would be examined by the JMO he was told that hospital authorities were unable to tell when the JMO would come. So far, Solomon has not been examined by the JMO.
On April 24 a written complaint was again sent to the Chairperson of Human Rights Commission, National Police Commission, Inspector General of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police Kalutara.
A complaint to the Medical Council of the Sri Lanka Medical College was also made about the professional negligence of the Doctor who examined Solomon.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the local authorities listed below and demand that due disciplinary and legal action is taken against the responsible officers of the Bulathsinhala Police and the doctor of the Bulathsinhala Hospital for professional negligence and supporting the perpetrators.
Please be informed that the AHRC writes separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the question of torture calling for intervention in this case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
SRI LANKA: Please investigate police torture and inaction of doctor for failure of medical examination
Name of victim: Mr. Thalagala Pahalage Solomon, 55; married with a child; labourer–cutting grass; resident of Akkara Panaha, near Millakanda Praja Hall, Bulathsinhala
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Officer Jayantha
2. Officers beating police Identity Numbers 77672 and 82079
(All are attached to the Bulathsinhala Police Station, Mathugama Dist., Kalutara Division, Western Province (South) Range)
Date of incident: 12 April 2009
Place of incident: Bulathsinhala
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding an incident that took place at the Bulathsinhala village fair on 12 April 2009. I am informed that a man named Solomon was severely assaulted by two officers attached to the Bulathsinhala Police Station who were on duty that day at the fair and then by another officer of the same station who used the victims own knife to slash the victims hand several times with it. The officer who slashed the victim with the knife was named Jayantha and that he was allegedly under the influence of alcohol at that time.
According to the information received, the victim was taken to the Bulathsinhala Hospital where the doctor allegedly did not conduct any examination on him but sutured his arm and treated it. The doctor refused to believe that the victim was assaulted by the police and transferred him to the Horana Hospital to continue treatment.
I am informed that the victim’s wife was forced to make a statement about the quarrel she had with the victim by officer Jayantha and thereafter threatened. The police complaint about the incident was initially made by the victim’s son while the victim was still in hospital.
I am aware that the victim has now been discharged and the two officers bearing Police Identity number 77672 and 82079 visited him at his home. These two officers after finding out what steps Solomon and his family had taken and intended to take in the future regarding the incident had accepted that they were at fault and pressed him to settle the matter.
I am also informed that the Officer-in-Charge of the Bulathsinhala Police Staion has accepted the guilt of the officers and that officer Jayantha had cut Solomon with the knife and offered to pay money to settle the matter. However, no action has been taken against those responsible.
I am appalled by this incident in which a man was almost maimed by the officers of the Bulathsinhala police and that their indiscipline and misbehavior was ignored by the doctor who failed to conduct a proper and complete examination of the victim even though the victim complained of several areas in his body which needed medical attention. Further the doctor did not believe the victim when he said that he had been assaulted by the police and transferred him to the Horana Hospital.
The victim has so far not been examined by a Judicial Medical officer, which has caused a delay of the proceedings. The victim says he was told by the Horana Hospital authorities that they were not able to tell him when the JMO would come. It is unacceptable for the doctors to wait till the victim has recovered from his injury by intentionally delaying the process of medical examination.
I therefore urge you to inquire into this incident so that those responsible for the assault and attack will be properly prosecuted and punished according to law. In order to do this, I urge you to examine the injured the victim so that actions can be taken in appropriate time without further delay.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Jayantha Wickramaratne
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk
2. Mr. Mohan Peris
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk
3. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk
4. Secretary
Human Rights Commission
No. 36, Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
5. Senior Superintendent of Police
Office of the Senior Superintendant of Police
Kalutara
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 34 2 222199
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
