(The following is the English translation of a verbatim statement made by a 26-year-old Sri Lankan woman whose fiancè was allegedly killed by two police officers. In her account videotaped recently by the Asian Human Rights Commission, Lankapurage Sunethra Malkanthi reveals that three police officers from the Welipenna Police Station have made sexual advances to her for several years. Her relationship with M. R. D. Saman Priyantha Guneratna, 29, also made these officers jealous. They often harassed him in a bid to bring pressure on her. Guneratna was shot dead by two police officers at close range when he was driving his open lorry along a gravel road on May 30. The two officers arrested claimed that they shot Guneratna because he refused to obey their order to stop the vehicle. Malkanthi demands a proper inquiry into her fiancè's death and the perpetrators be punished.)

I am Sunethra Malkanthi and I live near Kappettiyagahalanda Dalanda Nagaraya Village. 

In January 1996 I was married to a soldier and moved into his home. On June 18 of the same year my husband passed away. He was killed in combat. For about two years after that I continued to live at his home and then I returned to my parent's home where I am staying now. I met a person called Saman Priyantha who came to our home with my brother. At that time he was selling illicit liquor and I developed a relationship with him because I often had to rescue him due to business dealings.

Later I bought my own property at a place called Marindagoda and built my own house there. It was during this time that the police at Welipenna used to catch Saman selling his illicit liquor and take him to the police station and I would have to go to the station to rescue him. After some time he stopped selling illicit liquor. But the problems with the police continued. Even though he was innocent of any crime, the police tried to implicate him in cases. They used to file fabricated cases against him saying that he was still selling illicit liquor. I pleaded with the officer in charge of the station, Mr. Padmalal, that Saman had done nothing wrong and not to implicate him in these cases. I told him that Saman had a place to live (with me) and that I received a pension from the army because of my ex-husband, who had died.

Police Jealousy 

To earn a living, I bought Saman a machine to make cement bricks. I also bought him tools to do carpentry work. He started making bricks with the machine and doing odd jobs with the tools. I then mortgaged my house to finance a company and bought a tipper lorry.

Saman used this lorry for his work, which took him past the Welipenna Police Station several times a day to buy sand and transport the bricks. Even though they knew that Saman was no longer engaged in illicit work, the police often caused us a lot of trouble. They knew that I was receiving a pension from the army and that I was unmarried. However, I was intending to marry Saman, which is why I bought the tools and the lorry.

It was during this time that a sub inspector by the name of Silva was very angry with me. There was a sergeant called Premarisi who was also angry with the two of us. I know that they were jealous of Saman. As a result of this, Saman and I considered selling the property and moving away from the village. However, I had to obtain a letter from the government village representative, Mr. Ramasevaka, every month in order to obtain my ex-husband's pension. Without the letter I would not be able to obtain the money. So when Saman suggested that we sell our property and move elsewhere, I was reluctant to do so. I was hoping that after we bought the lorry Saman and I could get married and reside permanently in the house
that we were living in at that time. 

Guneratna's Death

On May 28, I went to Anuradhapura with Saman's father. Saman stayed at home and was working with his lorry and transporting sand and stones. I returned on the evening of May 30 and learned that Saman was shot. The shooting took place when he was on his way back after transporting some timber. There were two people involved and one of them was Sergeant Premasiri. The two of them shot Saman. When I learned of the shooting and that Saman was in hospital, I immediately went there but was not allowed to see him. Soon after I learned that he had died.

I then prepared the funeral arrangements for Saman, covering all the expenses myself. The vehicle, which was hit by bullets during the incident, was at the Matumaga Magistrate's Court and I learned that not a single lawyer from that court wanted to represent me in the case. Neither the Matumaga court nor the police offered me justice.

I hope that the perpetrators will be punished and given the highest possible sentence they deserve.

Indecent Proposals

Saman was often arrested and taken to the Welipenna Police Station and I always went to have him released. Sergeant Premarisi and Sub Inspector Silva of that station used to tell me I didn't need to marry Saman. They used to tell me that he was unsuitable for me. They told me that there was no need for me to marry anyone and that if I needed any help, anything at all, they would help me at any time. 

Both before the shooting and afterwards the police made indecent proposals to me and were very persistent. However, I chose Saman and intended to spend the rest of my life with him. I did not want any relationship with the policemen. They continued to harass us and arrest Saman
because they knew that every time they did so I would turn up at the station to rescue him. Very often when I visited the station I saw that the officers were drunk. On those occasions they used foul language and made sexual innuendoes to me. It was insulting and demeaning I cannot bring
myself to repeat here what they used to say to me. This happened very often. 

Sometimes Saman would stay out working overnight or visit his mother and return home late in the evening. On those occasion the police used to visit my home, using the excuse that they were looking for Saman. If Saman was home they would talk briefly and then leave. But if he was not at home they would try to persuade me to agree to their suggestions that I shouldn't marry Saman but rely on them for any help. I told them that I would never agree to such suggestions. I am not such a woman that would do that sort of thing. I chose Saman because he was from my own
village and we suited to each other. I had every intention of marrying him. 

Sometimes when Saman was using his lorry the police would employ him. The police started using Saman and the lorry to transport their own things. I was worried about this and believed that the police were looking for a way to harm him. I warned Saman about accepting work from them. I told him that we were under no obligation to accept personal requests from the police officers. But sometimes they just used to come and take him away,
even using force in order to get their work done. Saman used to comply with them because he was afraid of them. 

So I believe the police were angry at Saman and thought that if they could get rid of him then they could get to use me. They tried to kill Saman in such a way that no one would be caught for the crime. But, we later found the culprits and the police admitted that they were guilty. Otherwise, even today we would not know who shot Saman. It was the villagers that cornered the police officers. Later when officers arrived from several other police stations, they surrendered themselves to the police. 

Court Hearing

On June 8, the case was presented in the Matumaga Magistrate's Court and the two officers who shot Saman were remanded. No lawyers from that court were willing to represent me and it was clear that all of them supported the police. I was offered no justice from the Matumaga Magistrate's Court and until now the case is still pending. If we cannot get any justice through this court, I hope there are other legal mechanisms that can punish these perpetrators. 

Saman went to a village to collect some timber from a house that had been demolished near the place where the shooting occurred. After the shooting the police claimed that he was transporting stolen timber and used that excuse for shooting at the lorry. They also stated that they ordered him to stop and opened fire when he did not. However, the road that Saman was driving on was not one that anyone could drive fast. It was very narrow. Also, at the time of the shooting there was no timber or wood on the lorry as he had unloaded the wood at another location and was returning home. The case that the police filed stated at the time of the shooting the lorry was transporting timber illegally.

About half an hour after the shooting the provincial council member arrived along with two assistant superintendents of police. At the time there was not one piece of timber or wood in the vehicle. But the police filed their case stating that there was timber in the lorry. The police took some timber from another property and showed it to the judge as evidence to support their case. Before I went to the vehicle the police tried to load the lorry with timber taken from somewhere else. I scolded them and told them not to put anything in my lorry. I told them that I would stop them even if they tried to kill me. So they stopped. After a magistrate arrived at the scene, they took the lorry to the police station and then later to the court. Even then they were still claiming that there was timber in the vehicle. 

The wood that the police were trying to use as evidence was in fact located at a property near to the crime scene and was owned by the owner of that property. 

The crime scene is on a gravel road and it is impossible to drive fast on such a surface. The police were able to get very close to Saman before they shot him. Even a bicycle cannot go fast on that road.

I admit that Saman used to make and sell illicit liquor, but I wanted him to get out of this work and that is why I bought everything for him including the brick making machine and carpentry equipment. I spent my own money to buy the property and build the house. I did all these things to get him out of the illicit work and Saman took advantage of this to clean up his life. 

Money Matters 

When they used to arrest Saman, I would go to the station and used to beg the officer-in-charge, Padmalal, by holding his feet. I would tell him that Saman was innocent and to leave us alone. But the officers who arrested Saman  used to falsify evidence, which they presented to the officer-in-charge. When I went to the station I used to strike my head against the ground and plead with them not to implicate Saman in such cases. Even Saman used to say it was unfair that I was involved every time he was arrested. Both of us were afraid of the police at this station. Often we were presented in court and I was always the one to rescue Saman and secure his release. 

Some time ago we had a three-wheeler, a trishaw that Saman operated. One day one of Saman's friends, without our knowledge, used the trishaw to transport some illicit liquor. The police chased and intercepted the trishaw and Saman told the police that the cargo did not belong to him. The owner of the liquor and Saman were taken to the police station and later produced in court. Saman was fined 125,000 rupees for possession of the liquor even though it did not belong to him. I didn't have the money to pay such a huge fine and the trishaw was kept by the police for 10 months. As the trishaw was kept under the sun and rain all that time, its condition deteriorated so badly that it became unusable. Also, anything useful in the trishaw, the battery for example, had been removed. I felt very helpless at that time because I could not get the trishaw back. 

Due to the fact that I had an income from the pension I was able to borrow money at a very high interest rate of between 15 per cent and 20 per cent per month. But even with the loans I was still unable to retrieve the trishaw. I pursued the case in court at Kaluthra and went there three or four times and was finally able to have the fine reduced to 25,000 rupees. Saman was implicated and there was no way to confront the police. We
were concerned that our lives might be threatened. Eventually, I borrowed money from many places and managed to get back the vehicle. The 25,000 rupees that I used for bail are still in the police station as is all the other bail money that I used to bail out Saman.