In an incident that has sparked concerns regarding the treatment of detainees in Sri Lankan custody, a 40-year-old Tamil prisoner, Ratnasingam Chandrakumar, from Navatkuli, died whilst being transported to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court.
Chandrakumar, who was being held at Jaffna prison, was transported to court for a scheduled hearing. As he was being escorted from the prison vehicle to the courthouse, he suddenly collapsed and fainted. Despite immediate efforts by prison officials to rush him to a nearby hospital, the medical team declared him dead upon arrival. The body was subsequently transferred to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, where an autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death.
While the exact cause of death remains unclear pending the autopsy results, this incident adds long held concerns around Sri Lankan police brutality and the treatment of prisoners in detention. There has been a lack of transparency and accountability surrounding such events in the past, where there have been reports of prisoners suffering from injuries or even dying in custody under suspicious circumstances. The authorities often fail to provide adequate explanations or conduct thorough investigations into these incidents, fueling widespread distrust in the system.
Earlier in January, Kanesh Nishanthan who was released from Jaffna prison, died under mysterious circumstances, causing suspicion over the cause of his death. The 28-year-old, who hails from Nallur was detained and held at the Jaffna prison and was released on the 26th of January.
In November last year, Nagarasa Alex, a 25-year-old resident of Sithankerni, Jaffna, died due to torture at the hands of Sri Lankan police. The incident led to widespread outrage, with a video circulating on social media capturing the young man's harrowing account of the brutality he endured. The video, in which he details the horrific torture inflicted upon him, has gone viral, intensifying demands for justice.
According to a report published in People's Dispatch, Counter-Currents estimates over 200 Tamil political prisoners are incarcerated in different prisons and detention centres in Sri Lanka.
