Are children tortured in the Ranmuthugala Home?

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

The Certified Girls School at Ranmuthugala - is it a centre to rehabilitate teenagers or is it a 'torture chamber'? This is a question which demands an urgent answer as nine girls fled the school a week ago because they could not bear the beating by their principal who used a wooden pole to assault them for being 'naughty'.

With no opportunity for formal education, which is compulsory, all the girls between 14 to 16 years are used for cleaning, washing and working as domestics in the official quarters of the school principal and also by other senior teachers.

On the day of the incident, this group of girls was assigned to remove overgrown weeds and clear flower beds which task they finished by noon. They worked in the scorching sun and had baths without seeking permission from the administration. Bathing without prior permission was the 'major offence' according to them which they had committed and the principal beat the nine girls unmercifully even while they were crying in pain.

"This is the usual practice at the school. When we do something wrong the teachers and principal hit us", the girl, who lead the 'mission' said. The girls said they knew that fleeing from the premises was an offence but they did not have any other option being mercilessly beaten up by their 'guardians' at school.

Some of the girls cried of head pain and suffered with swellings on the body, the girls were forcibly assigned to trim grass in the garden. It was 4 pm and they knew they will get beaten on the next day too. They decided to flee and climbed the huge boundary wall one by one. Within a few minutes when all nine of them were out of the building they got into three buses as they did not have money and reached Ragama.

"Then they walked up to Ja-Ela and took another bus ride to Minuwangoda. They planned to reach Kotugoda, where relatives of one of the girls live. The nine girls hired a three-wheeler promising the driver to pay the fare once they reached their destination. However, the Police mobile unit saw the packed vehicle and followed it. The girls reached the destination and realised that the relative had gone out but the driver began scolding the teenagers and was threatening them to pay the three wheeler fare, when the police reached the place", OIC Nishendra Pathiraja said.

Being a dedicated officer and with a special concern about children, Inspector Pathiraja took prompt action to carry out a full scale investigation with the advice of police Headquarters.

The girls were taken into custody and handed over to the Nisala Diyasevana Children's Home until the inquiry is completed.

"Before launching the investigation I phoned the school to verify whether nine children from the school were missing. The principal confirmed and we also sought advice from the National Child Protection Authority", he said.

When questioning the children they revealed how they had been assaulted and had to attend to domestic chores without sending them to school. "These girls should be sent to school but the principal didn't take the initiative to do that. It is illegal to use them as workers", OIC Pathiraja explained.

Bryan Gunaratne, Child Rights Activist of the Foundation for Law and Justice, who counselled the children after they fled, said they were badly beaten and as they were in fear of again being beaten by the principal had decided to escape.

"These children, who were traumatised due to various incidents, are abused further at the School. There are no teachers who know the feelings of these children. They are just doing a job without any sense of feeling for these children and ill-trained to rehabilitate them. Due to their behaviour and the way they treat children, the purpose of sending them for rehabilitation at this school get lost. Instead these children become more violent and are subject to more abuse under their purview", he said.

According to reliable sources, the girls who were brought in after fleeing the school were assaulted badly while they were threatened them not to divulge anything to outsiders.

Doubts are being raised up as to why the relevant authorities have turned a blind eye to this 'horror house', where teenagers were abused. Once it was reported in the media about a 15-year-old girl who died due to her health condition being neglected in the dilapidated living condition at the home.

Following a report submitted by the Minuwangoda Police, the Minuwangoda Magistrate Courts has directed the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to launch an investigation. Under the directions of the NCPA the principal of the school has been arrested on October 26 on charges of cruelty to children and also for not sending them to school.

The Minuwangoda Magistrate and Additional District Judge A.V. Swarnadipathi have instructed to remand the principal further until the NCPA inquiry is complete and also remand her husband and three others for threatening and trying to assault the two lawyers - Shan Sumedha Senanayake and Sunanda Deshapriya, who appeared for the children.

However, NCPA Chairman Anoma Dissanayake said she has appointed a 10-member investigation team including the Police OIC of the NCPA to hold a ful-scale inquiry.

"I have received complaints and as soon as I heard about the incident I initiated an investigation. We are not only investigating why these nine children had escaped the school and why the principal didn't take any action to send them to school but also other forms of abuse that are allegedly taking place in the premises", she said.

According to Dissanayake all children and staff will be questioned to find out the others involved in abusing children. "If they are proved guilty the NCPA will take tough action against them", she said.

Dissanayake said the NCPA would also monitor the activities of all other State run children's homes as the authority expects them to perform in a manner expected of such institutions.