News
Six policemen to be charged for murder of torture victim
Six policemen who were found guilty of torturing a suspect in custody in Chunnakam, Jaffna are to be served fresh indictments for committing murder. The policemen were sentenced to ten years imprisonment by Jaffna High Court judge M. Illenchelian having been found guilty of torturing the suspect Sri Skandarajah Sumanan. Fines of Rs.25,000 each were imposed on the convicts and they were asked to pay Rs.200,000 collectively as compensation to the family of the victim.
The police had maintained that the man who was a suspect in a robbery had jumped out of the police vehicle when he was being taken for further investigation into the Kilinochchi tank close by and drowned. The incident took place in November, 2011.
When the investigation was underway, it transpired that the victim had been tortured and suffered extensive internal injuries.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had carried out a parallel investigation into the man’s death due to its suspicious nature and based on these findings the policemen are to be charged for his murder.