UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Court releases the alleged perpetrator of brutal assault of his student without sufficient investigation

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a male teacher Prasad Janaka of the Saralankara School in Galle, who was accused in the Magistrate’s Court Case No 59302 of assaulting and causing hurt to 16-year-old P.W. Pushpakumara on 3 March 2005 was released by the Magistrate last month. This was after the police received instructions from the Attorney General not to proceed with the case. No reasons were given by the Hon. Attorney General for his decision.

On 3 March 2005, 16-year-old Pushpakumara, a student of Saralankara school at Gonapinuwela in the Galle District, Sri Lanka was brutally assaulted by a male school teacher, Prasad Janaka and thereafter summoned by the principal and arbitrarily suspended from school. This was despite the school authorities being well aware that Pushpakumara was in poor health as he suffered from epilepsy. As a result of the assault, he had a severe epilepsy episode which necessitated hospitalisation (for further information see UA-164-2005).

Pushpakumara’s mother, K.P. Malkanthi lodged a complaint with the Hikkaduwa police as well as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the National Child Protection Authority, Inspector General of Police and relevant educational authorities. However, she says, the police initially refused to investigate the incident allegedly because of the school principal’s close affiliation with a powerful politician.

The family was thereafter constantly harassed and intimidated to withdraw the complaint. Then, parents of the other students were incited allegedly by the principal and several of her cronies to stage a noisy demonstration in front of the school against Malkanthi and her family–completly disrupting classes at the school that day. But Malkanthi refused to yield to the pressure and continued to forward written complaints to the authorities. Finally the police charged the teacher under section 314 of the Penal Code for causing simple hurt to Pushpakumara.

On 2 March 2006, one year after the assault on Pushpakumara his 7-year-old brother Tharaka Kumara who also attended the same school was assaulted by his class teacher and thereafter suspended from school by the Principal (for more details see UA-104-2006). In desperation of having both her sons deprived of their education and with the education authorities completely neglecting their responsibilities in ensuring these children’s right to education, Ms. Malkanthi had little option but to take her grievances to the Supreme Court by way of a Fundamental Rights Petition in FR/SC/89/2006. It was only with the intervention of the Supreme Court that the boys were afforded a new school to continue their education.

Meanwhile the Magistrate’s Court case against the accused teacher continued to be taken up before court. On 3 April 2007–2 years after the incident–when the case was called in court, the ASP Galle appeared in court and produced a letter from the Attorney General’s Department requesting that no further steps be taken against the accused. No reasons were given and accordingly, the accused was released. According to information received it has been revealed that this was not even a case which the police had referred to the AG for advice, as is often the cause of much delay in Magistrate’s Court cases.

The AHRC strongly condemns that insufficient action taken by the police authorities and the Magistrate’s Court for completing the prosecution of an alleged perpetrator without exhausting appropriate investigations into the case. It is difficult to understand as to why the perpetrator would be released on such a serious charge as committing violent assault of a victim who was his student without proper investigations being completed. The decision of the Magistrate can only have a demoralising affect on the people whose faith in the prosecuting and judicial procedures in the country is already weakened.

The AHRC therefore would like to argue that the offence of the teacher should be re-examined by the police and Attorney General’s office in order to afford justice over the alleged assault and violation of the rights of the victim P.W. Pushpakumara.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to review the decision of the Magistrate. Please also urge them to award the victim and their family appropriate compensation.

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