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subject:	SRI LANKA: Custodial death due to torture, brutal assault in front of the victim's children
	Please do NOT remove the place holders like [salutation] or [fullname], as they will be replaced with the actual names. Please feel free to edit this text as you like.
body text:	Dear [salutation], SRI LANKA : Custodial death due to torture, brutal assault in front of the victim's children I am appalled to learn of yet another custodial death caused by sheer brutality at the hands of the Sri Lankan Police. Sinnappan Abraham Kiragory and several of his friends were arrested by officers of the Eheliyagoda police station; his wife, Ms. V Pushpaleela and two of his children were also taken to the station. Once there Ms. Pushpaleela and her children were forced to watch in helpless horror as her husband and the other men were brutally tortured by the officers. Each suspect was dragged out of the cell and the ten policemen pounced on him with batons, poles and clubs. They pummelled them all over their bodies heedless of their screams of agony. Her husband was so severely assaulted that she suspects his legs were broken and he slumped to the ground. One of his attackers had then jumped on his body and continued to assault him on the stomach. The suspects were then handcuffed and put into the cell again. This ‘treatment’ she says was continued on a rotation basis for the rest of the day. That is, each suspect was pulled out, beaten and thrown back into the cell over and over again. At nightfall the policemen brought a bottle of liquor and glasses. They consumed the liquor and then resumed the torture of the suspects. Despite the men complaining of their arms and legs being fractured and that they were in severe pain, no medical treatment was offered to the suspects. However, the most shocking feature of this cruelty was that two terrified, under-aged children were forced to watch their father being so brutalised. As a result Ms. Pushpaleela says the children are currently suffering from severe mental trauma and the 7-year-old shudders when he sees a policeman and the young one has vowed to take revenge from those who killed his father. The entire family was detained at the police station the entire day. The following day, the 14th about 10.30 a.m. Ms. Pushpaleela and her two children were released. But when she requested her jewellery (all of her personal jewellery and even her daughters ear studs were confiscated by the police for 'safe keeping') from Sub Inspector Abeygunawardena he refused to return it and told her to come back another day. Ms. Pushpaleela was told by her husband's friends that eventually they were taken to a Magistrate's house who ordered them remanded. However, even then their ordeal was not over. Instead of being taken to a remand prison they were returned to the police station and taken to a building believed to that of the Officer-in-Charge where they were again brutalised. When at last they were transported to remand Mr. Kiragory's situation was so serious he was immediately transferred to Ratnapura Hospital by a prison vehicle and 4 prison guards stayed with him. By the morning of the 15th he was dead. Ms. Pushpaleela made a report to the Meanwhile to police headquarters in Colombo on the August 17th but on the 19th three officers claiming to be from the CID visited her in Colombo wanting to record her statement. She was taken to the Grand pass police station where she made a statement but when she asked for their contact number, they would not give it o her. However, Ms. Pushpaleela said that they had come in a vehicle belonging to the Eheliyagoda police and had a copy of her complaint made to the police HQ on 17th. She also complained to the Human Rights Commission on the 20th. However, the only thing that has happened so far is that rumours have been spread throughout her home area that as a witness to the crime she is also to be eliminated. Torture and custodial deaths at police stations in Sri Lanka is becoming the norm and it is appalling that the government, in the person of the Inspector General of Police, the National Police Commission and the Human Rights Commission have taken little in the way of any serious action to prevent it from continuing. I urge for an immediate inquiry into this senseless death and for protection for Ms. Pushpaleela. Compensation should be paid so as to ensure that the now fatherless children may continue their education. Trauma counselling should also be afforded to the two children who were forced to witness their father's brutal torture. Yours sincerely, [fullname] [country]

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