Nearly two years have passed since the death of a soldier who allegedly drowned in a lake while undergoing Army training, but justice has not yet been served, the soldier’s mother said.
Don Uresh Kavishan Jayasinghe is the only son of Mrs. Chandra Chandra Wijewardena, a resident of Galhena, Beruwala. He was born in 2000 and has another younger sister. Experiencing the bitterness of life from birth, Kavishan’s only dream was to join the army.
His only hope was to go to the army and build a good house and give his sister a good education as well as a better future for his parents who were suffering endlessly.
Uresh Kavishan joined the Vijayabahu Regiment (Boyagane) of the 11th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Army on January 16, 2019. Later on March 12, 2019 he entered the Sinhawilluwatte training camp in Puttalam. While training there, on June 12, 2019, Uresh took leave and returned home with a list of belongings saying that he had to go to a jungle course and went back to the camp on 2019-06-17.
He went to the camp that day and informed his house that he would not be allowed to speak until 06-23 and that his mobile phones would be picked up from the camp.
Although it was dawn on June 23, Uresh had not called home. Meanwhile, a phone call was made to Uresh’s house from the Puttalam camp stating that Uresh had escaped from the camp with another person.
But Uresh’s parents did not accept it. Because they knew very well that Uresh would not do that.
Later, the camp informed them that it was in the Puttalam Lagoon (Periya Wewa) and that they should come and see it. Accordingly, Uresh’s parents have gone to the camp. After taking separate statements from the parents, the Army Police went to the Puttalam Hospital and identified the body as that of their son. Uresh’s mother Chandra says that the severely mutilated body was identified as a scar on his right hand.
At the time, the camp had told Uresh’s parents that he had gone back to the bath because he had forgotten the bucket and the bed sheet and did not know what had happened.
Meanwhile, autopsies have been carried out on Uresh’s and further details have been sent to the Government Analyst without stating the cause.
Uresh’s parents have said that the death of the child is suspicious. But no one paid attention to that. Following the release of the body, the funeral will be held on 27 June 2019 with full military honors.
The army had told Uresh’s parents that this was a drowning death. But they do not believe it. Because the body floating in the lagoon had only underwear. Ms. Chandra said the death was suspected due to the fact that the army number was someone else’s number and that the body was first examined by the police and when it was said to belong to an army soldier, it was rejected by the army officers and the child was accused of having escaped without any disciplinary issues. says.
A case in this regard is still pending in the Puttalam High Court. This is a burden that parents cannot bear. They also want to know the truth about their child’s death.
They have lodged a complaint with the President and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. They are still weeping as they wait for justice to be done for their son’s death