Darsanth's family with his coffin outside Kokuvil police station on Sunday.
A teenage Tamil boy was tortured to death according to his family, after being arrested by Sri Lankan police and sent to a reformatory home in Amparai.
13-year-old Ananthadevan Darsanth, from Kokuvil in Batticaloa, was arrested by Sri Lankan police officers for allegedly stealing a bell and lamp from a local temple in the area.
The last known photograph of Darshanth alive, handcuffed in Sri Lankan police custody
After being detained by the police on 16 November, he was produced before a court and sent to the Kalmunai Reformatory School. However, within just days of being sent to the institution, his family were informed that Darsanth was found dead in his room on 29 November.
A post-mortem report carried out at Amparai Hospital found multiple injuries on the schoolchild’s body.
His family allege that he was murdered. Darsanth would have turned 14 years old this month.
As his funeral rites were conducted at Kokuvil yesterday, outraged and grief-stricken locals carried Darsanth’s coffin to the local Sri Lankan police station. They demanded those responsible for his death be brought to account.
Earlier today, a female supervisor from the reformatory school was reportedly arrested and released on bail until 15 December.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
