Ishara Harsha Kumara died on October 25th while in the Homagama police’s custody. His family accuse policemen of killing him, saying he died from their beatings.
Having heard of Kumara’s arrest, Piyumi Nisansala, his wife, went to the Homagama Police Station between 8.30am and 9am last Sunday. “I watched as they walked him to the station’s crimes division, and I also watched as they dragged him on the floor back to the cell afterwards,” Nisansala told The Examiner.
As he was being dragged, he was bleeding from the mouth and wasn’t conscious, she added. She pleaded with the police to take him to the hospital, but they refused to at first.
“They kept saying he was fine. They didn’t even let me give him a panadol tablet for his pain. They said his wrongdoings warranted punishment.”
He was finally taken to the Homagama base hospital around noon, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Kumara’s death isn’t an isolated case. His is the fourth of five reported deaths in police custody this year. And from 2020 to May 2025 the Human Rights Commission recorded 49 deaths in police stations.
Police investigation
The police say they recorded a complaint that Kumara was assaulted by their crimes division at the Homagama police station, but haven’t yet been able to confirm the veracity of that complaint. The police also said their investigations found that Kumara had injuries before he was arrested –– he had been hurt at a party last Saturday, a day prior to his arrest. The post-mortem hasn’t conclusively determined the cause of death, but it did detail his injuries.
“The medical report states three broken ribs, internal bleeding in the brain. We have also learnt he had head injuries. The incident occurred over two days. The assault outside happened on the 24th, and any police assault would have been on the 25th. It is difficult to specify exactly when each injury occurred,” Sajeewa Medawatte, the senior DIG in charge of the Western Province, told the press at a briefing held yesterday.
In Homagama early this week, three officers — the headquarters inspector in charge of the Homagma police station, a sub-inspector, and a constable — were interdicted for administrative lapses following Kumara’s death, said F. U. Wootler, the police spokesman. On Wednesday night, Rajitha Gurusinghe, the Homagama Crimes Division’s OIC, was also arrested.
Reports of previous assaults involving Gurusinghe surfaced on social media. They accuse him of breaking a suspect’s arm when he was stationed at the Uppuveli police station in Trincomalee.
“The Uppuveli incident was reported earlier. But, during his time in the Homagama Division under the current administration, necessary guidance was provided by senior officers before appointing him. He served for about eight months, and during that time, no such allegations were received against him regarding assault or illegal acts,” Medawatte said, in response to press questions about Gurusinghe’s track record.
Prior to that, he had allegedly beaten a suspect in the Kalutara North police station.
Custodial deaths and torture
From January 2020 to May 2025, the Human Rights Commission recorded 79 deaths from police encounters and in police custody. Last year, the commission registered 18 complaints of custodial deaths.
The commission also documented around 600 cases of torture and ill-treatment in 2025. But no arrests or disciplinary action was taken in most of these cases.
