By Gerald De Saram –

Gerald De Saram

The answer to the above headlined question is that the bulk of the general public don’t really know and have no idea whom to turn to. They also fear reprisals from their so called protectors and are unwilling to push back against police brutality and corruption.

The appalling story below happened to my son and his girlfriend on the evening of the 28th of December. This is therefore a first hand account and does not rely upon hearsay by a third party. In this narrative the frightening abuse of power displayed by our “protectors of the law” was carried out by officers from the Kollupitiya Police station who were manning the security check point at the Kollupitiya junction, just outside Methodist College at around 8.45 pm on the 28th of December.

My son and his friend had decided to call up a PickMe Tuk Tuk to take them to the Chillies restaurant at One Galle Face. The driver arrived and they left my house at around 8.30 pm. On their way their ride was stopped, apparently for a random search of the vehicle, by the Police manning the Kollupitiya check point. It was by then around 8.45 pm.

The officers there initially asked the driver to produce his license and registration papers but on seeing my son and his friend in the passenger seat switched their attention to them and completely forgot about the Tuk and its driver.

My son and his friend were asked to disembark the Tuk Tuk and given a thorough body search by means of patting down and the thrusting of hands then their pockets. This was done not with any sort of curtesy but very roughly and crudely. I have to say however that the police didn’t body search my son’s young girlfriend.

Thereafter the police turned their attention to my son’s carry pouch in which he stores his phone, purse and other personal belongings. These were all taken out and tossed onto the pavement. Having done this with the contents of my son’s pouch the officers did the same with his wallet, littering the pavement with the contents of his purse, including the cash he was carrying. They thereafter did the same with his friend’s hand bag and purse. It was clear by now that the motive of the police was to harass and bully a young person, who had repeatedly asked the officers there why they were doing what they were doing, in front of his girlfriend and in plain view of the passing public at that busy intersection.

Anyway, at this point the police officer who was leading the witch-hunt found a pair of nail scissors in my son’s pouch which my son explained was there for him to cut his finger nails with before taking part in basketball practices and games, which is a passion for him. Not being happy with this explanation and being determined to pin something, anything, on his victim the brain dead cretin of a cop, whose salary is paid for with the ever increasing taxes that are being bled out of law abiding people, was insistent that the scissors were used for some drug related activity. Beware all you hairdressers, manicurists, PAs etc because the police now have proof, because you all carry or use scissors, that you are all into drugs!!

Having failed to find something to pin on my son, this pig of a cop took him behind their security hut along with about 4 of his colleagues and ordered him to remove his pants, which invitation my son correctly declined. He then grabbed my son by his belt and manhandled him while ordering him again to strip. The poor boy having never encountered this type of intensely threatening behaviour before, least of all from a police officer, was petrified and was bullied and traumatised into submission. He therefore complied by removing his trousers. But the pig was still not satisfied and asked the boy to remove his underwear as well. The now petrified kid did that as well and, as I imagine his fear and plight, both as his father and as another human being, my heart breaks for him. He has come through unimaginable difficulties and handicaps after his mother died of cancer when he was just 12 years old. That he has pulled through as he has is a testament to his courage and perseverance, qualities that were sadly lacking in his tormentors that evening.

What kind of sick, warped minds do we entrust our law and order to? What reason did this deranged moron have to single out a young innocent boy in this manner on the pavement of the Galle Road, at a very busy intersection in the Capital City. What kind of leadership is there in our police force, that allows and probably encourages this kind of deranged behaviour. We will probably never know but one thing is certain, if this kind of behaviour is allowed to continue unchecked, one day the child victim may be someone close to us or someone we love, and the outcome far worse than what my son suffered. I’m told that this kind of thing is quite common now where young people are regularly singled out for police bullying and where our laws are broken with impunity by the very people that tax payers pay to uphold it. It is a shameful reality in our society today.

In closing I ask just two things. Firstly please ensure your children, particularly those who are now young adults, are aware of the dangers they face when they go out with their friends, and secondly that you don’t ignore injustice but take a stand against it. Remember, turning your face away from it is actually tantamount to tacit approval of this cancer and one day your lot may be the one drawn.