Muthuvadige Sathsara Nimesh, a 26-year-old youth residing in Meegahakivula, Badulla, has ‘died’ while in Welikada police custody.
“I am not a thief, I also heard him say, ‘I am not a thief,'” said Sathsara’s mother’s elder sister (Loku Amma), Nilanka Indunil, describing the youth who was taken into police custody while studying a nursing course at a private hospital in Colombo.
“We don’t know exactly how to explain this yet. We only know what the police told us. A group of people called the police and handed him over. They said he ran into a garden and created a disturbance. Then they brought him back from the police station, and the police said he was not in his right mind, he was struggling, agitated, screaming… he was in that state.
Meanwhile, a friend of the boy had called. Then he heard a loud commotion. ‘I’m not a thief, I’m not a thief.’ ‘Call the police, then you’ll understand, ask this man,’ he had shouted. Then the boy told his mother (Sathsara’s mother) that something was wrong with his brother and asked her to check on him,” she said.
‘Tie up the child and keep him safe’
According to the information, Sathsara Nimesh’s mother had called him, and the person who answered was Nilanka Indunil, who assumed it was a police officer.
“We had spoken to someone from the police. He was very agitated, he was struggling as if something had happened, he could not be calmed down. Then she (Sathsara’s mother) said to tie him up and put chains on him. She would come from Badulla in the morning. She would arrive at dawn. Not to hit the child, but to tie him up and keep him safe because he was agitated,” she further explained.
‘There is no information, the child was not shown, there is no cage’
The incident took place on the night of April 1st, and Sathsara’s mother had reached Welikada Police by the morning of the 2nd.
“She came to the police station at around 7 a.m. Since then, there has been no information. The child has not been shown, there is no cage, nothing. Later, we also went to the police station at around 12. Somehow, we came to know that the child was missing from the crowd. Then they said he had a hard time at night and was taken to the mental hospital. They said he died there. But we met the doctor who admitted him to the hospital. He said that when he was brought to the hospital, the child was dead, there was only a fever in the chest,” Nilanka Indunil said.
Friend who learned that Sathsara was in ‘trouble’
A close friend of Sathsara Nimesh, who first learned that he had faced some problem on the day he was taken into police custody, described the incident that day.
“I called him around 8:03 p.m. He answered the phone. But he didn’t speak. I heard a lot of commotion in the background. He was shouting, ‘I’m not a thief,’ he was shouting loudly. ‘I’m not a thief, ask that man, we’re the police,’ things like that.”
Thenuka called again, but Sathsara did not answer, and only background noise was heard.
‘Mom, I’m going to the police station’
“I immediately called his mother. It was 8:07 p.m., as I remember. I said, ‘I think my brother has a problem, please call him.’ He had called me. Then he called me back and said, ‘Mom, I’m going to the police station,’ and then called my mother,” said Thenuka Gamage.
He said that after several attempts to contact police stations around Colombo, Sathsara’s mother eventually found out he was in Welikada police custody.
‘If he had a mental illness, he couldn’t do that course’
Nilanka Indunil and Thenuka Gamage stated that the deceased Sathsara Nimesh was not someone who had received treatment for or had a mental illness.
“There was no such mental illness. If there was, Lanka Hospital would not have allowed him to take that course. I think the people at Lanka Hospital understand better than us whether he had a mental illness,” said Thenuka.
Trousers found in the trash bin
“When we received his belongings from the police, the trousers he was wearing were not there. Later, his mother found the trousers he was wearing in a dustbin nearby,” said Thenuka.
The Prisoners’ Rights Protection Committee is providing legal assistance in this case. Its Executive Director, Attorney Senaka Perera, commented:
“My mother found out that he was dead during the day. After that, she asked questions. Even the pants he was wearing were in a police trash can. There was also some cut hair.”
Bruises on the head and thighs
Although the post-mortem examination did not specify the cause of death, it revealed bruises on the head and thighs. The body parts have been sent to the Government Analyst for further examination.
“We are seeing a situation where the Sri Lankan police cannot stop using beatings or rather their usual methods. The police are guilty of torture and such acts,” said Perera.
He added that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has been informed.
After media reports about the arrest and death of Sathsara, the Police Media Division issued a statement on April 3.
It stated that on the night of April 1, Welikada Police received information that a person had entered a house in the Nawala area. A team of officers went to the scene and began investigations.
The statement said the person was brought to the police station for his protection due to behavior “observed to be of a person suffering from a mental disorder” during questioning.
The police statement added that at the police station, the person “behaved uncontrollably by hitting parts of his body on the wall around the cell, and the officers could not control him.”
The police officers then “made great efforts” to admit the suspect to the National Institute of Mental Health in Mulleriyawa.
“The suspect died in the early hours of the next morning while receiving treatment at the hospital, and a post-mortem examination is scheduled,” the statement said.
Did he die before or after being admitted to the hospital?
“The police say he was taken to the hospital because he was disturbed. But the hospital says that when he arrived— I personally spoke to the doctor—he said he was already dead. He said he was not even conscious,” said Thenuka.
The family says doctors informed them that Sathsara was dead upon admission.
Police Media Spokesperson SSP Buddhika Manatunga responded to this.
He said that when conflicting reports exist, the post-mortem examination will reveal the truth.
“The officer who took him to the hospital was there for more than an hour and a half. He died the next morning, after 12 midnight. When we brought him to the hospital, it was around 11 p.m. The police told me that he died about an hour and a half later, between 12 and 1 a.m.,” he said.
Has an assault taken place?
The Nugegoda Divisional Criminal Investigation Bureau has initiated an investigation. The police spokesperson said no evidence of assault has been found so far.
“According to the investigation so far, no assault has taken place. He was only in the police station for a short time, about 20 to 25 minutes. There were about 16 suspects in the cell. All of them witnessed this.
“Those suspects say he behaved violently, fell on the ground, even hit his head on a step. That’s what they say happened,” he said.
However, SSP Buddhika Manatunga confirmed that further investigations are ongoing regarding this incident.
