Friday, 4 July 2014 00:55
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Post-mortem reports pointing to death by cut injuries disputed by victim’s family
Victim’s family demands exhumation of body for investigation
Debris clearance in Welipitiya suspended until Government Analyst investigates
By Dharisha Bastians
The Kalutara Magistrate has summoned the area’s Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) to appear before courts today (4) after lawyers disputed the cause of death in a Post Mortem Report (PMR) relating to one of the fatalities in the Aluthgama religious violence on 15 June.
Lawyers for one of the victims disputed the JMO findings that death was caused by cut injuries, insisting that the fatality had been caused by gunshot wound instead.
Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President Attorney at Law Upul Jayasuriya said the BASL had observed the inquest proceedings when the aggrieved party for one of the victims of the Aluthgama violence had disputed the PMR filed by the JMO of the area.
The BASL President said that lawyers for the two aggrieved parties related to two victims who had died in the clashes, had asked to view the PMRs and were permitted to do so.
“One of the PMRs recorded the death as being from gunshot injury. The other said the fatality was from cut injuries. This was disputed by the lawyers for that victim,” the BASL President explained.
He said the lawyers had then asked for an exhumation order to be issued with regard to the victim that the report said had died from cut injuries, which they disputed.
The Magistrate then ordered that the JMO be summoned to court today (4) before exhuming the body, Jayasuriya said.
Eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims and even Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem have claimed deaths in Welipitiya on 15 June had been caused by gunshot wounds.
The Magistrate also suspended the clearance of debris in Aluthgama where recent religious violence erupted and summoned the Government Analyst to investigate arson attacks in the area.
On behalf of BASL, Jayasuriya also made an application requesting the court to summon the Government Analyst to investigate before the debris is cleared in the Welipitiya area, where the killings took place.
Attorney Jayasuriya told court that two weeks after the incident, the police were yet to summon the Government Analyst even though this was a basic requirement of any arson investigation.
The Magistrate immediately ordered the suspension of the debris clearance that has been undertaken by the Army in most parts of Aluthgama, until the Government Analyst was summoned to do the necessary testing following attacks of arson, Jaysuriya told Daily FT.
The suspension order would only apply to the Welipitiya area where the shootings allegedly took place and three people perished in violent clashes on the night of 15 June.
“This is not something the court needs to intervene to do,” Jayasuriya noted, saying the Police were well aware of the procedure following an arson attack.
“It is a requirement that the Government Analyst should be summoned. That is why the country has a Government Analyst Department. Surely this is not the first time the Police have investigated arson,” the BASL President charged.
He said it was revealing that it had been two weeks since the incident and the Police had failed to take these basic first steps.
