A tense situation unfolded outside the Wadduwa Police Station on Tuesday following the death of a young man just hours after his release from police custody. Around 40 villagers gathered outside the station, demanding justice and accountability from the authorities. The protesters accused the police of assaulting the deceased, R.M. Samitha Dilshan, a 24-year-old father of one, leading to his untimely death.
“Thunder should strike you down!” women screamed at the police during the protest. Amid the chaos, Darshika Srimali Fernando whose husband was arrested along with Dilshan demanded that another witness be allowed to identify those responsible. “Line up everyone who was on duty and let us point them out,” the emotional woman insisted.
“Interdiction or transfers aren’t enough, they must be sent to prison immediately. We don’t want compensation, we want justice,” she said, even as a police officer tried to pacify the enraged crowd. The woman even claimed she witnessed Dilshan being assaulted and further accused the police officers of verbally abusing her and forcefully chasing her away. Darshika also alleged that she had received an anonymous phone call urging her to refrain from filing a complaint against the police over her husband’s death.
While four police officers have been arrested for the incident since, however, the young man’s death has once again brought to light issues of police brutality, torture and custodial deaths in Sri Lanka, tarnishing the 158-year history of the country’s law enforcement agency.
The incident
According to Dilshan’s wife, Roshini Lakmali, her husband was travelling on a motorbike with his friend Darshana Silva on February 10 when they met with an accident. She said that when the police attempted to stop them, the friend who was driving at the time, had kept going. The police then pursued, arrested both men and took them to the station around 2.00 pm on the day.
“They were granted bail around midnight. After he returned home, my husband began complaining of chest pains. He then vomited blood. I immediately contacted the 1919 Ambulance service which rushed him to the Panadura hospital. There, we were told he had suffered a heart attack and had passed away,” she said. Holding her young son in her arms, Lakmali pleaded that no one should endure such a tragedy at the hands of the police.
Speaking to the Sunday Observer, Counsel Senaka Perera, who represented the victim’s family in Court, said that Dilshan had been subjected to severe mistreatment while in police custody. “They were not only assaulted mercilessly but they were also denied water, despite making repeated requests,” Perera said. He also alleged that the beatings were so brutal that Silva’s driving licence which was in his pocket, had been severely damaged while he was in police custody.
Dilshan was laid to rest on February 13, the same day the initial hearing into his death was taken up in court. According to Counsels of the family, the police submitted only a single B-report for each officer and said that, as per the interim report issued by the Panadura Special Judicial Medical Officer, Dilshan’s death was caused by two factors, a blood clot in an artery of the heart and a deliberate assault. The Counsel said that the police classified the case under Sections 313, 316, and 331 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act filing charges for assault rather than murder.
During the hearing, Perera, appearing for the family said that the death resulted from an assault in police custody and that the other individual arrested with the deceased had also been severely assaulted. He said the incident was in violation of the Constitution and the directives of the Police Department.
Counsel Tharushi Fernando who also represented the victim’s family told Court that the death was fundamentally a human rights violation and that the charges filed as assault should instead be considered as death caused by assault. She cited the directives issued by the Human Rights Commission in December 2023 regarding killings in police custody, which classified such incidents as murders rather than mere assaults.
In contrast, Counsel representing the defence said that the deceased had committed drug –related offences and added that his ‘reputation’ was well known in Panadura.
Torture and custodial deaths
According to Fernando torture and assault in police custody are among the gravest human rights violations faced by many people in Sri Lanka.
She said that media reports indicate that there were six deaths in police custody in the first half of 2023, as well as 24 deaths at the hands of the police between 2020 and 2023. “In 2024, media outlets reported 15 killings at the hands of the police. However, the data provided to the police in response to our information requests suggests a much higher number,” she added.
Perera who also serves as the Chairperson of the Committee for the Protection of Prisoners’ Rights, stressed that the Sri Lankan police force exists to ensure public safety and must not act arbitrarily or operate under the law of the jungle. He said that in the past, police officers, in their pursuit of weapons, had acted unlawfully, leading to the deaths of suspects. Numerous instances of torture and harassment within police stations have been reported, practices that should never have been allowed to take place.
Perera highlighted the longstanding state support for such illegal behaviour, adding that even when a Magistrate ruled a police killing as a crime, the authorities took an unreasonably long time to act, while the Minister responsible for the police remained silent. He said that, had previous Governments adopted a stricter stance, the situation today might have been very different.
However, Perera also acknowledged a shift in approach, recognising that the National People’s Power (NPP) Government has taken steps to address the issue. He cited the immediate arrest of four police constables in this case as a positive development. “In the past, demanding accountability required protests, writs, and lawsuits. This time, the law was enforced equally, regardless of rank or uniform, ensuring justice prevailed and the rights of the people were upheld,” he said.
Nevertheless, Perera voiced one key concern, the failure to hold the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Wadduwa Police accountable. “The OIC is legally responsible for the safety of those in custody under Section 20 A of the Police Ordinance. His inaction in this case suggests complicity in the abuse,” he said.
Speaking to the Sunday Observer on the incident, former Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President Saliya Peiris PC also echoed these concerns. “No person in custody can be subjected to torture. If such acts occur, both the perpetrators and their superiors are liable. Fundamental legal principles include the responsibility of the Commanding Officer, meaning those directly involved in torture, as well as their higher officials, must be held accountable,” he asserted.
Police culture
Peiris attributed the repeated incidents of police brutality to the deeply ingrained culture within the Force. “The culture within the police is a significant factor. It often leads to arbitrary actions that violate the people’s rights. There have been numerous cases where suspects have been tortured while in custody. More steps must be taken to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.
The four police constables, Ravichan Krishanthan, Tharindu Sampath, Viraj Nandana, and Asanka Indika, who were arrested in connection with the case have now been released on bail despite objections of the aggressive party’s lawyers. They were granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs. 1 million each, with a travel ban imposed on them. They have been ordered to report to the Panadura Divisional Criminal Investigation Bureau between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the last Sunday of each month. As investigations into the death of Samitha Dilshan continue, the verdict regarding the post-mortem examination is expected to be received on February 17.
Fernando recalled that the first year death anniversary of Buddhika Dinesh, who died as a result of an assault while in the custody of the Panadura North police on January 14, 2024, was held recently. She said midway through last year, it was revealed in court that Dinesh had succumbed to injuries inflicted by a blunt weapon. The Counsel said that the troubling reality, however, is that deaths in police custody are not isolated incidents but have become alarmingly frequent. “This culture has been enabled by those who fail to seek justice for the deceased,” Fernando said.
