[Prison: Kandy] “Judiciary is like a fishing net which catches only the small fish, but allow the big fish to escape”. This are the last few words utters to Mallet Silva and to me by Jayalth Bandara before leaving the corridor of the ward” D” at the Bogambara Prison in Kandy.
We have visited Jayalath Bandara [30] a paralyzed man, who arrested at the age of 14 as suspect for a grave murder case, in January 02 1991, and sentenced to death penalty at the age of 19.
Bandara was born on 11th November 1977.
Dharmakeirthi Ranasinghe Bandara, the brother next to him, was 17 years at that time.
His eldest brother, Chandraratne Bandara, was 21 years at the time of this incident.
They were residing at Athiliwewa in Wellawaya.
On this day as it was a school holiday he was at home. Around 10 AM him, father and two brothers went towards their paddy field. Bandara followed them. Then from a distance about 150 Meters they saw Nandasena working in their paddy field. His farther and other two elder brothers started an argument and it turn out to fight between two parties. At one stage Bandra’s eldest brother went and hit Nandasena with the Kathy Knife.
There after the eldest brother went to the Wellawaya Police and surrendered himself. Subsequently the Police came and took Bandara other elder brother into custody.
After this incident He attended school and he was taken into custody in the month of March, two months after the incident.
When he was produced before the Badulla Magistrate. Judge was reluctant to remand Bandara as was a minor, but due to the objections raised by the Officer- in – Charge of the Crime Branch of the Wellawaya Police, the Magistrate remanded him for two weeks and later granted bail and ordered m to go to the Police Station and give a statement.
In the Police Station he was never questioned but had to sign a written statement given to him by the Police Sergeant.
During the period he was on bail, he fell from a tree and was paralyzed. There after he had to attend the Badulla courts in a Wheel Chair.
Two weeks before the judgment was delivered, the lawyer who looked after their interests, refused to appear for them in courts.
Finally, all four of the , Bandra , his father, two brother’s were sentenced to death by the Badulla courts on 14th October 2003.
There after they appealed against this judgment.
The same judgment was confirmed at the appeal courts on 16th March 2007.
His father and the elder brother died while in Prison.
The brother, elder to him, is now been kept in Welikada Prison and Bandara was now 30 years old and kept in Bogambara Prison on a Wheel Chair as inmate of condemn prisoner.
End
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