The Supreme Court has declared that the Hatharaliyadda Police violated the fundamental rights of a 16-year-old schoolboy and his mother, awarding compensation and issuing fresh directives to safeguard the rights of minors in custody.
The court held that the Acting Officer-in-Charge of the Hatharaliyadda Police Station in 2022 tortured the teenager, who had been wrongfully arrested on suspicion of stealing jewellery, and further infringed his rights by detaining him unlawfully and failing to produce him before a magistrate within the time required by law.
During court proceedings it had been revealed through medical evidence that the student sustained injuries after being beaten on the soles of his feet and subjected to chilli extract being poured into his eyes.
The court also noted the boy’s detention alongside an unrelated adult, in violation of the Children and Young Persons Ordinance.
The bench, comprising Justices Janak de Silva, Menaka Wijesundera and Sampath B. Abayakoon, ruled that the boy’s mother also suffered a violation of her rights when she was denied access to her son, despite hearing him cry out for help while in custody.
In recognising her anguish, Justice Janak de Silva cited both Islamic and Buddhist teachings on the sanctity of a mother’s love. Quoting the Prophet Muhammad, he recalled the hadith:“Go and be with \[your mother] because Paradise is at her feet.”
He also drew from the Buddha’s Karaniya Metta Sutta:“Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings.”
The Acting OIC was ordered to personally pay Rs. 300,000 to the student and Rs. 75,000 to the mother as compensation.
In addition, the Inspector General of Police was directed to issue a nationwide order requiring officers to grant parents access to minors within six hours of arrest.
“I further direct the Inspector General of Police to issue a direction to all Police Officers
directing that when a minor is arrested, the mother or father (or in their absence a close
relative) of the minor be granted access to the minor before he is produced before the
Magistrate and in any event, within 6 hours of the arrest,” the bench said.
The court strongly condemned the use of torture, stressing that such practices must not be tolerated, particularly against children.
