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by Afreeha Jawad

Little Mohammed burst into tears as he recalled how the police hit him mercilessly while denying false charges of robbing a chain.

"I was taken by the police who came home and took me, pretending they needed my assistance to pluck coconuts. In the police station they hit me.

Please consider the children

They kicked me. They made me wash vehicles, clean drains, sweep and do all other odd jobs. I was there for seven days. Only after my mother appealed to Janasansadaya that I was released," he said wiping away his tears.

Today, Mohammed is a sick boy and suffers from epilepsy. Medical evidence proves that his epileptic condition was a result of persistent physical and emotional harassment which in medical jargon is post traumatic disorder. His mother wailed as she disclosed how Mohammed was all along quite a normal healthy child.

"He had no sickness at all. Only now after this incident he frequently gets these fits," she said.

Fifteen year old D. Pushpakumara from Kala Oya recalled how the police came home , assaulted him and bundled him into a van. Right along from home to police this boy was hit and upon arrival at the Saaliya Wewa police station and was made to sit atop a heap of ants (Nai koombhi). His constant denial of robbing a chain made the police so angry.

"They tied my hands and soon I was found hanging from the main beam. I was brought down only after mother came to the police station. The party who had lost the chain was also present and watched all this torture.

I was remanded again and had to be released to attend to my wounds at the Puttalam hospital. From there I was taken to the Kalubowila hospital," Pushpakumara recalled painfully. The case against the police is pending.

What's more there is no statement of his in the police books and while in hospital they came and pressurised the hospital authorities so much that finally he was released. Both SEDEC and the National Child Protection Authority later came to his rescue.

Suraj Prasanna from Ovitigala in Matugama just finished the GCE O/Level at St. Mary's College, Matugama, and now a lorry cleaner also moved the audience to tears as he disclosed police harassment.

"Yes, they came on January 8 this year. I was watching TV with Amma (mother). There were two policemen. They asked me whether I robbed the temple till. When I denied, they dragged me about a hundred yards assaulting me on my cheeks, pushed me into the van, removed my shirt and handcuffed me. It wasn't a police van. It was a private one. They locked me up in the cell."

Suraj was thereafter assaulted heavily by the policemen. This time under the influence of liquor.

"They went on drinking and continued to hit me. They even asked me to worship the women police constables and as I knelt, they assaulted me again and again," he said. Suraj was admitted to the Wettewe hospital. His fundamental rights case is pending in the Supreme Court.

The irony in this case was, as he disclosed, one of those that hurt him, PC Romeal, was even promoted. Suraj was taken into custody on a complaint by the temple priest. There is no recorded statement of this boy at the police.

Chamila Bandara - 17 years from Dolapihilla, Ankumbura is another victim of police assault.

"I was alone at home. A man came around 4.30 in the evening on July 20 this year and took me to the Ankumbura police. He told me that I had scolded some people who had traced the robbers. At the police station they kicked me on my chin. They also assaulted me on my spine with wooden poles. My legs were chained and my head covered with a polythene bag.

Breathing became difficult. For an hour I was made to hang on the beam. For seven days I was at the Ankumbura Police. I couldn't move my head and fingers. They got a Vedhamahattaya and applied oil. They also told me not to tell anyone that I was beaten. SEDEC took up my cause and I was at the Peradeniya hospital for 28 days," he said.

Suraj also disclosed how he was offered a job by the police and insisted on complaint withdrawal. Threats to kill his family continue even today. His mother explained how SEDEC moved in the matter and flew the boy to Geneva to present himself before the UN Human Rights Commission.

According to her, five other children - all rounded up by the police - have withdrawn complaints to the police after they were helped to build their houses. However, Suraj's mother informed that she would fight till the last and assured she would not succumb to threats nor offerings. Today the family keeps shifting houses for fear of losing their lives.

Ajith Kumara from Bulathsinhala, Kalutara is an year eight student. On January 1 this year found a police party at his home who offered him kiribath. They had asked him to direct them to the kasippu brewing house. When he had denied knowledge they carried him and dashed him with head downwards. His head was injured and he lost neck movement. The Janasansadaya representative took over his case and reported it to the local Human Rights Commission with no avail.

The youngest of all these victims of police torture - eight year old Sujith - was accused of breaking open a co-operative.

Listening to this boy could have agonised even the hardest of hearts. Just only a few feet off the ground, he answered clearly and to the point, Attorney-at-Law Weliamuna's questions with confidence - not easy to find even in an adult under such circumstances. This was what he had to say:

"I was playing with my friend after coming home from school. Anura Sampath and I were bundled into the van and taken to the Polpithigama police. The police hit us. Anura was made to hang and was beaten. We both were put into a room."

His mother related how she only heard their wailing and could not see what was going on. The police had assured her of the child's release only if the stolen milk powder packets were returned. Later he was released on bail. Anura - accused of robbing a mamotty was released after his mother ran to a nearby shop, bought one and gave it to the police. This was hurriedly followed by a remark Aaah! Mey thiyenne, baduth ekka horu.

These were some among the many victims of police torture that assembled at the SLFI to tell their nerve-wracking tales. Also present were their woeful mothers.

Attorney-at-law, Weliamuna leading the discussions also made some striking observations. They were all children and of the underclass and the fact that they were children itself who were put through the rigours of torture is noteworthy. In all these cases the police presence at the time of arrest minus their uniforms and the vans that transported them not being police vehicles was significant.

The police inability to conduct investigations following guidelines was a great shortfall. No senior police officer ever took disciplinary action against his juniors for improper conduct. That the public have lost faith in the police and State organisations is well proved in that none of these mothers ever went to any such institution for relief except the NGOs. He also questioned the efficiency of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. That the police and the HRC had neglected children's rights and treated them as adults is also regrettable. These children according to Mr. Weliamuna are now social outcasts and as a result would have to go through greater mental strain upon entering adulthood, is very evident.

From this writer's sociological analysis one could clearly see the partnership of village elitism and the State repressive mechanism - the police - all very united in their common endeavour to further oppress the already oppressed in the under class.

Life's negative characteristics of robbery and deceit are always connected with the poor and not otherwise. That the rich are 'not corrupt' and are 'paragons of virtue' - such misleading societal beliefs are also highlighted if one perceives the above stories. That the twin 'virtues' of money and power are a passport to respectability and a facade to one's misdoings (whatever) is indeed thought-provoking.

Interestingly, in the case of Chaminda, it was drawn to audience attention that a massive perahera was organised in Kandy to display opposition to him being accused of conversion by the Christian organisation that stepped in to take his case to Geneva.

Such institutional intervention was viewed not only as a justification to religious conversion but also became a matter of convenience to hush-up police discrepancy. Chaminda, his mother and all those that showed concern in this case openly pronounced their religious leanings towards Buddhism and condemned police action to portray an otherwise image.

"We are Buddhists and continue to be so. The Christian organisations such as SEDEC had no ulterior motives of converting Chaminda," they said.

This incident also reveals from a sociological aspect the great extent to which symbols are made use of to distort happenings in order to gain mileage for one's self and community while discrediting the other. Such guilt and accusation is not necessarily the lot of a particular religious group either.

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