Sri Lankans shocked by youth's tragic death

Sri Lankans were shocked to see a police constable assaulting a mentally ill youth and forcing him to die by drowning in the shallow sea in Colombo on Thursday.

A video footage released by local TV stations and websites showed that the youth was chased into the sea and beaten with wooden poles by the police cop and his supporters while he was trying to surrender.

The youth was prevented from coming to shore and later he got drowned as he tried to escape hitting.

Initial investigations showed that 26-year-old Balawarnam Sivakumar had played havoc near the Railway station at Bambalapitiya in the southern suburb area of the capital Colombo by stoning running trains and trying to stop moving vehicles. One train driver got injured by his stoning.

On Thursday, Sivakumar threw stones again at vehicles in the area.

Being a motor mechanic by profession, Sivakumar became mentally ill after a broken love affair two years ago. From Time to time he was being treated in the hospital. But again a few days ago he showed signs of depression and became violent.

On this fateful day, according to an eye witness, he tried to stop trains by throwing big stones at trains and passengers in the train.

The passengers alerted police cops and Army soldiers in the area.

When he was chased on Thursday, Sivakumar jumped into the sea and started throwing stones at the police cop and soldiers and injured a soldier. The police officer tried to control him by using wooden poles.

This horror scene was telecast in many TV channels and hit the headlines of some newspapers.

Sivakumar's body was washed ashore on Friday and the police had taken the police constable responsible for the case into custody.

The Colombo Crime Division is investigating the incident.

The Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickramaratne said on Saturday that he had ordered impartial and prompt inquiry into the incident and tough action will be taken against the police officer.

He said the police cop does not have the right to assault the youth and what he supposed to do was to rescue him and bring him to the police station.

"Watching the tape made me realize how cheap human life has become in this country. The entire police force needs to be re-educated ... Civil society as a whole has no hope of reforming themselves if the police acts in this way," said a remark put on the website of the popular English newspaper Daily Mirror.

While those who watched the incident on television were in shock, the residents of the vicinity said the youth was a threat to the neighborhood and the police should have arrested him days before.

"He was so violent and while throwing stones he warned even the police cop and the soldiers not to come to arrest him," they said.

Source: Xinhua