COLOMBO : When the case regarding the clashes and subsequent deaths at Mahara prison were taken up by Wattala Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday , an order was issued to conduct post-mortems on the 11 inmates who died during the bloody clashes within the Mahara prison premises.
Wattala Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala instructed the five-member committee appointed over the matter to conduct the post mortem examinations at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH).
The Magistrate instructed the committee comprising of Chief Specialist Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Sandun Wijewardena, IDH Hospital and Mulleriyawa East Colombo Base Hospital Specialist Judicial Medical Officer Dr.S.D.Channa Perera, Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila,Chief Specialist Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. P.P. Dissanayake, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo Professor Jean Perera and Department of Government Analyst Deputy Analyst D.G Madawala
to submit the reports to courts. He further said that the bodies should not be cremated or buried until the post-mortem was completed and the reports were handed over to courts.
The order was issued after the Attorney General requested permission for the appointment of a group of experts to conduct the post-mortem examinations on the 11 inmates who died in the unrest at the Mahara prison. Attorney General Dappula de Livera recommended the appointment of a group of experts consisting of senior Judicial Medical officers and a ballistic expert from the Government Analyst’s Department to conduct post-mortems. The counsel representing the aggrieved parties requested an additional doctor from a university to be appointed to the committee.
