SRI LANKA: A mother seeks an impartial inquiry into the mysterious death of her 14-year-old son 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the mysterious death of 14-year-old boy R.M. Salinda Probashana allegedly on 23 June 2004. He was missing after he went to school on June 22 and his body was found on the railway track the next day. The police tried to convince the boy’s mother that it was a case of suicide but she strongly believes that the school authority is hiding some facts regarding her son’s death and there is some foul play involved. The last place he was seen was at a meeting with a monk and some school teachers on June 22. At the meeting, he was questioned about possessing photos of girls and showing them to other students. The mother also reported that on June 24 the school principle and five teachers came to her house and warned her not to pursue the inquiry.

Your urgent action is required to pressure the local authorities to conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into this incident. We will send you updated information about this case soon.

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

Name of the victim: R.M. Salinda Prabashana, 14 years old, a student in grade 9 of Bandarawatte Parakrama Mahavidyalaya, Gampaha
Address of the victim: No. 230/34, Sandagiri Watta, Asgiriya Gampaha
Date of incident: He was missing from 22 June 2004 and his body was found on 23 June 2004

Case details:

R.M. Salinda Prakana (14) went to the school named above on 22 June 2004 and did not return home. On June 22 at about 12:30 p.m. the boy’s mother received a phone call from the school principal. The principal told her that her son left school to get a book but did not come back to school and asked her whether he had returned home or not. Since then, she along with several other people searched for the boy everywhere but they could not find him.

On the next evening (June 23), the boy’s mother was informed that her son’s body was in the mortuary of the Gampaha hospital. When she arrived at the hospital, she was told that the body was found on the railway track. The upper part of the body was intact while the lower part was in pieces. The police tried to convince the boy’s mother that her son committed suicide by throwing himself in front of train but there was no evidence to prove this and no accident was reported by the officers of the railway department on the alleged date of his death (June 23).

At the Police Headquarters in Colombo, the mother stated that she suspected the school authority is hiding some facts regarding the mysterious death of her son. She said that her son was questioned by the Buddhist monk in charge of the religious section of the school in front of some teachers about possessing some photos of girls. He allegedly showed the photos to other students. Ms. Malkanthie, a teacher who found the photos and Nimali, a teacher in charge of Grade 9 of the class were allegedly present at the meeting. It was the last thing known about the boy before he went missing.

The boy’s mother also reported that the school principle and five teachers came to her house on June 24 and warned her not to pursue the inquiry about her son’s death. Now she strongly believes that her son’s death did not take place on June 23 as alleged and something had happened before then, involving the school authority. She is seeking an impartial inquiry regarding this matter now.

AHRC urges the government of Sri Lanka especially the National Child Rights Authority to conduct an impartial and immediate investigation into this mysterious death of the young boy. School authorities are the guardians of the children in whom parents and society place their trust, however the circumstance of this incident shows that the school authority seemed to abuse this trust. AHRC has recently issued an appeal about another brutal torture of a 16-year-old boy by school teachers. (Refer to: UA-90-2004 and UP-42-2004)

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Send a letter, fax or an e-mail to the addresses below and express your concern about this case.

1. Prof. Harendra De Silva
National Child Rights Authority
330, Thalawathgoda Road
Madiwella
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 778912/13/14
Fax: +94 11 2 778975
E-mail: ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk

2. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net

3. Mr. T.I. de Silva
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/426711/327877

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER