Collusion, apathy said skewing medical legal reports

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 February 2001, 22:02 GMT]
"There is inordinate delay in getting medical reports on rape and torture from the Batticaloa hospital" said Suganthi Kandasamy, state counsel, addressing a seminar on Community awareness and aspects of the law Sunday in the eastern town. She noted that it is very difficult to prosecute cases involving torture and rape in Batticaloa because medical legal reports are either not available or in some important cases, even the preliminary examination of the victim is not done by medical officers assigned for the purpose at the Batticaloa hospital.

The observations of Ms.Kandasamy come in the wake of a strong reprimand by the Vavuniya district judge, Manickavasagar Ilencheliyan in court last year of medical officers in that northern border town who, according to him, had acted in bad faith by reporting that nothing was wrong with persons bearing clear marks of physical torture that were shown in open court.

Ms. Kandasamy cited a case in which a woman in the village of Kaluwanchikudi, about 24 kilometers south of Batticaloa, who was raped by a person from the Sri Lankan security forces. She said that the woman had not even been examined at the Batticaloa hospital, despite the passage of several months since the date of the rape.

According to Ms. Kandasamy, even direct intervention by judges who gave directions that the medical legal reports be produced forthwith in cases involving rape and murdered yielded no results.

During the discussion that followed the Batticaloa state counsel's presentation, Mr.Aiyathurai Nadesan, the local correspondent for the Virakesari, the Tamil daily newspaper published from Colombo and numerous foreign Tamil media, corroborated Ms.Kandasamy's observations by drawing attention to the fact that the Sri Lankan government hasn't so far appointed a single Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) in the north and east, despite the fact that most of the extra-judicial killings, torture and rape in this region were allegedly or quite plainly were perpetrated by the SLA.

The patent apathy and corruption on the part of some medical officers in the north and east who certify that nothing is wrong with victims who have obviously been tortured, raped, maimed, and, or traumatised, exacerbates the situation, Ms. Kandasamy said.

Another person in the audience charged that some medical officers in Batticaloa, Vavuniya and Mannar were patently colluding with the Sri Lankan army to give it a clean sheet in cases involving unequivocal evidence of torture, rape and severe sexual harassment.

Ms.Kandasamy said that the sheer apathy of village officers (Grama Sevakas) in serving summons to the affected parties in rape and torture cases, regardless of the unique circumstances, is another key factor balking reasonable redress to the victims.

According to her, the Batticaloa judge has served an arrest warrant on a village officer for his incorrigible negligence.

mangaleswari_250201.jpg
Ms.Mangaleswari Manikkapodi, legal advisor to the Suriya women's movement who organised the seminar addressing the audience at the Hamsa Hotel in Batticaloa town Sunday.Photo:TamilNet

 

Latest 15 Reports
24.04.22 05:44  
தீவின் நெருக்கடிச் சூழலில் ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசம் கடைப்பிடிக்கவேண்டிய நிலைப்பாடுகள்
09.04.22 14:44   Photo
குறிதவறும் ஈழத்தமிழர் தலைமைகளுக்கு வரலாறு தருகின்ற எச்சரிக்கை
21.01.22 07:24   Photo
ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசத்தின் தலைமைத்துவம் தேர்தல் அரசியற் கட்சிகளுக்கு அப்பாலானது
02.11.21 15:32   Photo
13 ஆம் சட்டத்திருத்தத்தால் கட்டமைக்கப்பட்ட இன அழிப்பை எதிர்கொள்ள முடியுமா?
15.09.21 08:19  
English version not available
17.05.21 19:23   Photo
Ananthi blames war criminal Silva for blocking collective memorial at Mu'l'livaaykkaal
09.04.21 14:46  
English version not available
23.03.21 12:41   Photo
No focus on Tamil genocide, geopolitics gets played out in Geneva in favour of QUAD formation
21.03.21 13:34   Photo
Navi Pillay explains ‘human rights’ limitations in Geneva on Tamil genocide
15.03.21 20:36   Photo
Deceived Tamil activists in UK falsely claimed ‘substantial changes’ to Zero draft
09.03.21 21:34   Photo
UK repeatedly wronged Tamils says hunger-striker, demands genocide justice
26.02.21 11:53   Photo
Tamils witness false dilemma in Geneva as geopolitical formations pit against each other
19.02.21 14:02   Photo
UK not prepared to push for ICC option in new UNHRC Resolution
07.02.21 23:16   Photo
Unprecedented P2P uprising paves the way for rights-oriented politics of Tamils and Muslims
22.01.21 08:01   Photo
Gotabaya sets up deceptive COI citing ‘sovereignty’ and ‘non-aligned’ foreign policy
 
Find this article at:
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=5815