Lessons from Kahawatte

Kahawatte is a small town with a population of 43,036. Yet 15 gruesome murders have occurred in the area since 28 July 2008, creating headlines and sparking off a complicated chain of events where political interference and Police partiality has been in evidence.

Of those murdered 14 are women above 50 years of age, and the other a young daughter of a victim. There have been seven victims in 2012 alone, the last being on 31 October. The latest news was sparked off by an attempted murder of a young couple on 10 November. This spate of murders has shown that not only are the murders not being stopped, there is real danger of the situation escalating with people becoming disgusted with the lack of justice and Police independence.

One of the most speculated motives is activities related to the drug trade, with strong political patronage. Although a number of suspects have been arrested, prosecutions are yet to be initiated.

Two concerns related to this issue have been highlighted by the press: the fear psychosis spread amongst the inhabitants in the area, and the protest against the irregularity of transferring the current Police Officer-in-Charge (OIC) who has been in charge of investigations pertaining to this issue.

The transfers of Police officers and public protests have a history in Kahawatte. Residents organised a protest march on 5 July 2011 against the failure of Police investigations. This led to the arrest of some suspects including a prominent Government politician, his coordinating secretary, who is also a Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) member, along with the wife and brother of the secretary. This underscored the deep political involvement of the murders, but little success was seen in bringing the guilty parties of the rest of the murders to justice.

Unfortunately the arrests were followed by a series of transfers from and to the Kahawatte Police Division.  On 25 June 2012, OIC of Kahawatte Police Station, P.N.C Wickramanayake, was transferred to Avissawella and the Chief Inspector (CI) of Vavuniya Division was appointed as the new OIC of Kahawatte. Afterwards, CI of Colombo Crime Division, Rohan Olugala was appointed to Kahawatte.

Then another arrest of several suspects led to the police team spearheading it being transferred out on 27 September 2012. This resulted in another protest. Then again, the newly-appointed OIC of Kahawatte Neranjan Abeywardhana was transferred out on 16 November 2012 but was reinstated within 24 hours following yet more protests.

This is the second instance in the last few months where local protests succeeded in changing centralised administrative decisions even without the support of a significant political infrastructure at the national level.  It is baffling why so many transfers are taking place at a time when a strong and conscience driven police force capable of independent investigations is essential in Kahawatte.

Many top Government officials pay lip service to the independence of the police till they are blue in the face but the actions prove otherwise. Vehement public protests seem to be the only hope that the Kahawatte murder victims have for justice. It is inexplicable why neither the Police Commission nor Government legislators have worked to keep a strong and independent police force in Kahawatte so that people around the country can restore their faith in a deeply flawed legal system.