A Sri Lankan police officer assaulted two Tamil schoolchildren and their father, a former LTTE cadre, leaving all three hospitalised on Sunday.

The children, 16-year-old Kirupakaran and 14-year-old Sharmila, were with their father P Vasanthakumar and the rest of the family at home when the Sri Lankan police officer arrived at their residence in the evening.

The policeman, who has since been named as the Officer-in-Charge of the Kanakarayankulam Police, was reportedly visiting a restaurant that is situated on the Vasanthakumar’s private property. The restaurant owners, who have allegedly been operating on the property despite the lease having expired, had called the policeman down in an apparent attempt to intimidate the family.

Vasanthakumar’s wife told Colombo Telegraph,

“The shop owner called us to come out. When my husband went there the Officer-in-Charge of the Kanakarayankulam Police severely attacked him.

“When I saw that, I ran to the place to help my husband. But the OIC attacked me too severely in spite of my being a woman, and also pulled my dress till the two sides tore. I was standing thus in the middle of the road.  When my 16 year-old son saw that, he tugged me away from the OIC and shouted ‘Let my mother go.’ Upon this the OIC twisted his neck so hard. That he was badly injured and had to be admitted to the hospital with a swollen neck.”

“At the same time the OIC punched my thirteen year old daughter hard in the stomach without any mercy. She is badly hurt and she too has been hospitalized. We have been threatened saying that my husband was once a member of the militancy.”