A prominent teacher’s union in the country has urged government authorities responsible for the protection of children to take necessary actions against the male and female police officers who had allegedly tortured and abused children at the Galle Face Green.
By filing a complaint on the 10th of October with the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) the Ceylon Teacher’s Union (CTU) highlighted that the actions of the police officers disrupted the peace as children were placed under severe pressure by creating a dangerous situation where the children were spending their free time on a day off.
“These children have come to Galle face with their parents. And it is not a place of violence or conflict. On Sundays, so many people come here to spend their leisure time. The children were placed under severe pressure through the creation of dangerous situations due to the actions of the police officers in a place where there’s no violence but peace.”
Participants at a peaceful protest and the commemoration of the dead that was held on the 9th of October at Galle Face Green were treated by police “cruelly, inhumanely, and humiliatingly” said an organization of journalists.
The General Secretary of Ceylon Teacher’s Union Joseph Stalin recalled that the female and male police officers including a superintendent of police (SP), and assistant superintendent of police (ASP) who had come on the 9th of October while the peaceful protest was happening at Galle face. They had obstructed the protest violently and arrested some people. Also, he stated that at that time when police officers tried to snatch a one-year-old child who was held by his father whilst in the middle of the panic; the child got scared and suffered a number of complications including vomiting and was admitted to Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital the same night.
The senior teacher’s union leader has also alleged that the police officers a group of police officers in an attempt to to arrest the mother the daughter who tried to get close to her mother was dragged away and harrassed.
The Ceylon Teacher’s Union further stated that the police arrested a 16-year-old child called Uvindu Rajapaksa who had come with his mother to record the protest.
The teacher’s union leader have also alleged that the police were seen terrorizing and torturing the children who were peacefully protesting whilst playing at that place.
In their complaint, CTU further requested that the National Child Protection Authority investigate the behaviour of police officers in order to take action against those who had allegedly abused the children.
NCPA chairman Prof. Udayakumara Amarasinghe had said the Authority is probing an allegation that ‘children were used as shields’ during the anti-government protest.
He has not made it clear whether there will be any investigation on police brutality.
