4 August 2010 09:30 am
The family of the Samurdhi officer who was tied to a tree by Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva in Kelaniya yesterday said that they fear for their lives with the officer himself now reportedly in hiding.
Relatives of the Samurdhi officer told Daily Mirror online that they did not know the whereabouts of the officer after he left his home yesterday. “He has been psychologically affected because of what has happened to him. He had not committed any sin for him to be treated in such a manner by the Deputy Minister. We all now fear for our lives,” a relative said.
The relative added, “We cannot step out of the house as people identify us. We have disconnected the home telephone as people are calling us. We are all affected because of this. We do not know what will happen to us.”
Meanwhile the Intellectuals for Human Rights termed Deputy Minister Silva’s actions yesterday as a ‘brutal’ act and condemned the physical and mental violence against this government official.
“It was an action which obviously violated the right of a civilian to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the right to work without any discrimination protected by international human rights charters and conventions,” the Human Rights group said in a statement. (Daily Mirror online)