Death in custody of Sri Lanka police amidst weather disasters
Allegations have been levelled against the Sri Lanka Police regarding killing a Tamil youth from the Eastern Province while he was in police custody.
According to the deceased youth’s mother, her son had told her on the same day he was arrested that he was assaulted by police officers.
Sivanesarasa Rinosan, a 23-year-old resident of Sinna Uppodai in Batticaloa, had been arrested by officers of the Batticaloa police headquarters on 2 December 2025.
The charge against him was stealing a bicycle parked in front of the police station.
After being produced before the Batticaloa Magistrate’s Court on 3 December 2025, he was remanded on a court order.
Provincial correspondents report that Rinosan, who was in remand custody, was admitted to the Batticaloa General Hospital on 5 December 2025 due to a sudden illness.
On 7 December 2025, Rinosan’s relatives had been informed by the police that he had been hospitalised due to an illness caused by crystal methamphetamine (‘ice’) use and that he had died in the hospital.
On the same day, Rinosan’s relatives gathered in front of the Batticaloa police headquarters and protested against the police alleging that his death was a result of police assault.
The deceased youth’s mother says that she visited the police station on the night of 2 December 2025 to bring him some food, and that he told her at that moment that police officers had beaten him.
“Justice must be served for my son. It is wrong to assault him regardless of the reasons for the arrest. My son has been killed. I went to see him at 7 pm and gave him idli. At that time, he told me that he was being beaten and asked me to get him out,” Rinosan’s mother said.
She had further stated that on 3 December 2025, the day he was produced before the court, he appeared to be unconscious in the morning. “When I visited him in the morning, he was unconscious. I tapped him to get him to change his clothes. I was told not to do so.”
On several occasions in the recent past, the Sri Lanka Police has been accused of assaulting people in custody.
Thus far, neither the Public Security Ministry nor the police has issued an official statement regarding Rinosan’s death in custody.
