Manathunga Dewayalage Violet, the mother of the University student, whose tragic death continues to be mired in controversy, said in an affidavit this week, that her son died due to police assault and not due to assault by another student identified as Basnayake, alias Bassa.
On June 18 in a skirmish between Matara police and Ruhuna University students, third year student, Susantha Bandara was allegedly assaulted by police.
In her affidavit the mother says, “On June 23 around 9.30 a.m the police took down a statement from me. I also testified in court in front of the magistrate. I testified that it was the police who assaulted my son, and that during his last moments, Susantha shouted it was Bassa that beat him. However, I swear that my son was killed as a result of police assault”.
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Students held protests during the week for their fallen colleague.
Pix by Sanka Vidanagama and Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk |
Violet has repeatedly said in her affidavit that her son Susantha had told her it was the police who assaulted him, but when he was in an almost delirious state, he said, “Bassa hit me, Bassa hit me.”
“On June 19, a day after the police assualt, Susantha came home after having spent the night at a friends place. He complained that his body was aching.
“I applied balm on his back. While doing so I noticed a mark on the back. When I asked him about it, he said he was assaulted by the police at the campus,” Violet says in her affidavit.Violet says she made a complaint to the Buttala police Headquarters Inspector (HQI) that her son was assaulted by members of the Police Riot Control Unit and was receiving treatment at the Badulla hospital. The HQI had then called the Badulla hospital police, and the following day, an officer from the hospital police had questioned Susantha for about an hour. Susantha had told him that the police assaulted him.
“On the day he died I was feeding him, and I asked him what he was doing till the police beat him. At this point he was vomiting and in a semi-conscious state said, ‘Bassa hit me, Bassa hit me’. He was delirious at this point and I too was flustered and in great pain of mind,” Violet says in the affidavit.
Meanwhile, Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayake, giving his version of the tragedy says the JVP-backed Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) should bear the responsibility for Susantha’s death. While denying that it was the police attack that killed the student, he charges that it was the action of the IUSF that forced the police to take steps to control a tense situation.
According to Mr. Dissanayake, the police stepped into control the situation following an incident involving a group of individuals from outside who had entered the university hostel premises and tried to assault the IUSF leaders.“The students in the hostel fled the premises with their pillows and mattresses and converged on the lecture halls and the university grounds.
“They even held the Vice Chancellor against his will. Susantha was not a part of this, but he was dragged into the melee by force. Two days later, on June 18, the police had arrived to try and control the situation,” he said.
According to Mr. Dissanayake, about a hundred students left the place voluntarily, immediately after the police had requested them to vacate the university premises, but the IUSF students had tried to prevent them from doing so.
“The students said they wanted to go to the hostel and collect their belongings before leaving the campus. The university administrators were against this, but the police allowed the students to enter in groups of 10. The IUSF leaders were against this move by the police and they protested. A tense situation followed,” he said.
“The police were forced to control the situation, and there might have been a baton attack on the students. The IUSF instigated this incident and they wanted it to happen,” he charged.
Mr. Dissanayake alleged that Susantha had been under a lot of stress before the incident due to various personal problems.
“A month before this incident, he had been banned from sitting for exams for three years for allegedly impersonating a JVP student called Sandakelum. After hearing this, his girlfriend left him,” he said.
He charged that Susantha was not a part of the protest and he was forced to take part by the IUSF.
“Susantha was not there. There was no evidence to show that he was anywhere around when this happened. Because he didn’t take part in the protest, this student called Bassa had attacked him, for ‘betraying their cause.’ After this it was reported that Susantha was admitted to hospital,” he said.
He also said Bassa had visited Susantha many times in hospital and this was suspicious.
“Bassa went to see Susantha in hospital, but after he died, Bassa disappeared. If the police in fact did attack him, he should have been admitted to the accident ward. But he was admitted to the medical ward, instead. It’s the IUSF and the JVP that got together and started this rift with the police. Without a doubt they should take the responsibility for Susantha’s death,” he charged.
IUSF convenor Udul Premeratne, however, said there are students ready to testify that it was the police who attacked Susantha and charged that the police, who at first claimed he died of natural causes, are now going after Basnayake, after Susantha’s mother made a statement.
“The police cannot deny that they assaulted these students. There are over 150 students who will testify against the police. The Matara OIC ordered the attack. We held a news conference the same day and we said Susantha was undergoing treatment at the Badulla hospital. On the 21st we formally complained to the IGP and called for an investigation. We sent him a list of names of the police officers behind the attack,” he said.
According to Udul’s account, Susantha was first admitted to the Diyatalawa hospital where he was unconscious for one and a half days and was then transferred to the Badulla hospital for an MRI scan. His mother, on the first day when he was admitted to the Diyatalawa Hospital, had tried to lodge complaints at the Diyatalawa and Buttala police stations. However, both stations had refused to record the entries because they were against the police, he said.
“I met his mother and asked her why she said it was Bassa who beat Susantha up. She told me, on the last day of his life, when she went to see him she had asked him, what he did all the while the police beat him up. He had told her, probably out of concern for her that it was not the police but Bassa who beat him up due to a private rift,” he recalled.
The IUSF is on a house-to-house campaign distributing leaflets. It also plans to hold a protest in Matara town this week and will go to courts against the Matara police officers to seek compensation for Bandara’s death, he said.
Meanwhile, JVP parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said Susantha had told the hospital police that he was assaulted by the police, and his mother too has given an affidavit, stating so.
“The police cannot get out of this. There is clear evidence that they were involved, and therefore the government should take responsibility. The IGP has given two versions. The minister too gives a different story at different times. They keep giving contradictory statements to cover up the government’s ongoing efforts to cut spending for universities and to open private universities,” he said.
Police Spokesman SP Prishantha Jayakody, meanwhile, said two CID teams were deployed to track down Bassa, whose whereabouts are not known.
Contributions by Sumanasiri Gunathilake in Moneragala. |
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