The Supreme Court yesterday (June 18) ordered two policemen to compensate a youth who was arrested and tortured in 2019 over an alleged gold theft from a company he had worked in.
The court ruled that the then OIC of Uragasmanhandiya Police and the then OIC of its Crime Branch had violated the fundamental rights of the young man – P.A.S. Madhushan by unlawfully arresting, assaulting, and torturing him to extract a confession over the incident.
Both police officers – identified as OIC Harith and OIC Hiran were ordered to personally pay Rs.01 million each in compensation as well as legal costs to the youth within 06 months.
The bench, comprising Justices Shiran Gunaratne, S. Thurai Raja, and A.H.M.D. Nawaz, also instructed that copies of the judgment be sent to the National Police Commission for further necessary action against the officers.
The FR case filed by the youth stated that he had voluntarily gone to the police with a lawyer upon learning that he was being sought over the theft. There, he was handcuffed and dragged along the floor into a room before being beaten and tortured until unconscious.
He said that the first respondent had compelled him to pay Rs.300,000 to the company owner to arrive at a settlement before being released on police bail. He had later been hospitalized for 12 days due to injuries inflicted on him.
Despite denials by the respondents, the SC bench found no lawful basis for the arrest and unanimously ruled that based on forensic medical reports, the petitioner had indeed been subjected to severe torture, confirming the violation of his rights.
