JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — The family of Arul Payas, the youth killed in a police shooting in Jaffna’s Allaipiddy area earlier this year, publicly accused Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday of denying them justice, alleging intimidation, institutional indifference, and political abandonment in the months following his death.
Speaking through tears at a press conference held at the Jaffna Media Centre, relatives said their efforts to seek accountability, including a visit to Colombo in hopes of meeting President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, ended in humiliation.
“We went seeking justice for our son, but we were not even treated with basic dignity,” family members said, accusing officials of turning them away while false information was being spread about both the deceased and his relatives.
Arul Payas was shot dead by police on February 10 in Velanai’s Allaipiddy area.
While security sources have alleged that the youth and his family were linked to cattle smuggling and other illicit activities, his death has intensified debate in the Northern Province over police conduct and the growing perception that sections of the local police force, including some Tamil officers, are operating like thugs.
Even among those who acknowledge that some allegations may have existed, critics argue that criminal suspicion, if true, cannot justify extrajudicial violence.
“The law does not grant the police the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner,” several civil society voices in Jaffna have argued, reflecting a broader sentiment that the killing bore the hallmarks of an encounter-style execution rather than lawful enforcement.
Relatives further alleged that police have sought to suppress the truth surrounding the shooting while monitoring and intimidating the family.
Public frustration has also been directed at local political leadership.
Family members sharply criticized ruling party parliamentarian Ilankumaran, saying he initially visited their home and promised support but later became unreachable.
“How can someone who ignores the suffering of his own people be called a people’s representative?” they asked.
In contrast, they acknowledged that ITAK MP Sivagnanam Shritharan, though not personally visiting the family, at least raised the matter in Parliament.
