President’s Office orders probe into death of teenager at Children’s Detention Centre

December 7, 2023 at 3:02 PM

The Police and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) have been instructed to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the recent death of a 15-year-old boy who was placed at a Children’s Detention Centre in Kalmunai, it was reported.

The directives were issued by the Secretary to the President, Saman Ekanayake on Wednesday (Dec 06), while a comprehensive report has also been sought over the incident on the instruction of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Earlier this week, the Matron of a Children’s Detention Centre was remanded until December 15 over the death of the boy. She was arrested after surrendering to the Kalmunai Police claiming that she had assaulted the boy. 

The Sri Lanka Police is also conducting investigations to ascertain the involvement of further individuals in the death. Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa told the media that any others found to be involved in the death will be apprehended.

The teenager, a resident of Kokuvil in Batticaloa, was arrested on suspicion and placed at the Children’s Detention Centre in Kalmunai for having robbed a temple.

He was apprehended by the Kokuvil Police on November 16 and was placed at the Children’s Detention Centre in Kalmunai the following day after being produced in court.

Based on information received by the Police, the body of the boy was found on November 30, after which the postmortem examination had been conducted at the Ampara Hospital.

The Postmortem report confirmed that the child had died due to injuries sustained to the chest area as a result of being assaulted. (NewsWire)