The Supreme Court has awarded Rs. 900,000 against the six police officers attached to the Sooriyawewa Police Station and the State as compensation for torture leading to the death of a father of three children.
The Supreme Court held that the right to life of the deceased, 35-year-old Liyana Arachchige Samantha, had been violated by the six police officers by their collective actions.
The Supreme Court directed the registrar of the Supreme Court to take steps to deposit Rs. 300,000 in each of the names of the three children at the Sooriyawewa branch of a state bank. The three children are entitled to the principal sum deposited in their names upon reaching the age of 18.
It was revealed that deceased’s three children were left in the lurch, without the care and protection of both their parents.
The Supreme Court’s three-judge bench was comprised of Justices Achala Wengappuli, L.T.B. Dehideniya, and Shiran Goonaratne.
The Supreme Court ordered each of the police officers to pay a sum of Rs. 100,000 as compensation from their personal funds. The state was also ordered to pay Rs. 300,000 as
compensation.
The mother of the deceased had filed this petition seeking a declaration that his son’s fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution have been violated by Police Sergeant Priyantha Kulathunga, Police Constables Chaminda Prabath, J. Chandana, Sunil Shantha, Sampath Peiris, and Sisira Padma Kumara.
The mother of the deceased alleged that her son had died whilst being held under police custody, after being severely beaten with pipes, poles, and sticks at the time of his arrest.
The petitioner stated that her son was arrested by police on February 19, 2015, while returning home on his motorcycle. Two policemen had stopped Samantha near the sluice gate of the bund of Viharagala Tank and questioned him about a hidden stock of illicit liquor. Subsequently, the policemen removed his shirt and tied his hands with it. They had then questioned Samantha and
demanded that he reveal where he had kept his stock of illicit liquor concealed. The questioning by the two policemen had turned violent when they repeatedly assaulted Samantha with a hose pipe, which continued even after she had fallen to the ground.
