A harrowing case of alleged police brutality has come to light in Yakkalamulla, Galle, where a completely disabled man claims he was assaulted, abused, and falsely accused by officers from the Yakkalamulla Police Station.
Eriyana Bandara Indika Prabath, a 36-year-old father of one residing at Mbivitawatta, Magedara, was reportedly subjected to an illegal search, physical assault, and mental abuse by police officers on April 22.
Indika, who is paralyzed from the waist down following a spinal cord injury from a fall in 2020, remains wheelchair-bound and depends on his elderly mother and brother for care.
According to Indika’s statement, police officers initially raided his home under suspicion of manufacturing and distributing local alcohol. After a thorough search yielded no evidence, the officers left, only to return later that day claiming to have found a 45-liter container of an illegal substance, believed to be local alcohol, in his yard. Neighbors who witnessed the second visit reportedly saw the officers attempting to force Indika to take responsibility for the substance.
Unable to physically handle the container due to his disability, Indika alleges the officers then transported him to the Yakkalamulla Police Station in a three-wheeler. There, he was coerced to sign a blank document admitting to drug trafficking. When he refused, he was allegedly dragged to a prison cell and violently thrown from his wheelchair onto the cement floor by an officer.
Indika was left on the cold floor for hours, unable to move, during which he urinated and defecated due to immobility. His pleas for help were reportedly ignored by the officers on duty. Around 10:00 PM, his brother arrived at the station, cleaned him, and secured his release on police bail.
To add to the trauma, Indika claims he received a threatening phone call from a police sergeant the following evening, warning him to stay silent or risk being “drugged and locked up for months.”
Indika has since sought legal assistance from the Hambantota Human Rights First Aid Center and reported that his right leg is now severely swollen due to the assault.