After seeing a Twitter post published by the writer, TNA MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam reached out requesting for more information into the matter so that he could take it up in Parliament

The Sri Lankan student, who died in a detention centre in Japan, Wishma Sandamali’s family believes that if the Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Japan had informed the family with regard to Wishma’s health condition beforehand, the family would have left no stone unturned to save her life.

It was soon after her death on March 6 this year that her family members were told by Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Japan that until her death they had been unaware of Wishma’s condition while in the detention center.
The bereaved family, which suspected the circumstances under which Wishma died came to Japan to demand a thorough investigation and they are still there. After several months of waiting, Wishma’s sisters received the final investigation report on her death on August 10. According to the family members, the final report had mentioned that the Japanese immigration officials had in fact informed the Sri Lankan embassy officials requesting them to contact Wishma’s family members.

The Daily Mirror is the only Sri Lankan media outlet to have continuously carried updates on Wishma’s case. After seeing a Twitter post published by the writer, TNA MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam reached out requesting for more information into the matter so that he could take it up in Parliament. Thereafter, last week he urged the government to take action against the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Japan and the other embassy officials over Wishma’s death.

“The Japanese Government has tendered an apology for her death, but the Sri Lankan Embassy in Japan has done nothing to help her. They have failed in their duty. Not only that, they have also lied to the family. Therefore, action has to be taken against those in the Sri Lankan mission in Japan after conducting an inquiry,” Mr. Rasamanickam said.

Interrupting his speech, the then Foreign Affairs Minister and Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardene raising a point of order responded saying, “After the death of this girl, the SL Embassy and the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Ministry worked on this case. Following the investigation, the Japanese government even apologised. Japan has a longstanding friendship with Sri Lanka. The Japanese Government has assisted Sri Lanka to contain COVID- 19. Recently, they gave Sri Lanka millions of COVID vaccines. Therefore, I request you to speak carefully. Just like on other days, when you can speak in Parliament about anything else, but not on matters relating to ties between two countries,” he said.

Mr. Rasamanickam responded saying he was speaking responsibly and then quoted from an investigative piece that the Daily Mirror did on Wishma Sandamali’s death. He said he would table the article’s findings to Parliament for anybody’s perusal and added that if this death happened in a Middle Eastern country, it would have caused protests and debates in Sri Lanka. “I request you to launch an inquiry into Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Japan,” he said in his closing remarks.

Wishma was in detention for overstaying her visa. During her detention period, she started complaining of vomiting in mid-August, 2020 and it continued throughout her detention period. In mid-January, 2021, she began complaining of stomach pain, nausea, loss of appetite, and numbness of the body. By mid-February, her condition grew too weak to walk or even stand, and that she required assistance from the staff at the immigration centre to go to the toilet and even change clothes.

Her blood tests in January showed mild polycythemia (an increase of red blood cells in the body). However, the investigation report states that the part-time doctor at the internal medical centre who examined Wishma on January 28, took a “wait-and-see approach.” The doctor instructed to test Wishma’s blood in another two months. 
On the night of January 28, Wishma vomited blood and requested the officials at the facility to take her to a hospital. But, they didn’t. Within the next few days, the frequency of vomiting increased and intake of provided meals started decreasing. Then, she was moved from a shared room to a single cell. The authorities also started counselling for Wishma as they thought from the very beginning that she malingered. 

Later, when she continued complaining of pains and difficulties in her body, she was asked to see a psychiatrist. The report stated that although psychiatric consultation was ordered on February 16, the COVID-19 situation in nearby hospitals “hampered the process.” 

TNA MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam speaking in Parliament

It was only on March 4, two days before her death, Wishma was brought to a psychiatrist. The report says that since Wishma did not request a consultation with a doctor after February 22, she wasn’t provided with any medical treatment until March 4 the date, reserved for the psychiatrist.

Since the last week of February, Wishma often has laid on the bed and needed assistance to move her body. She even used diapers as she could not move to even go to the toilet. All of this happened inside her tiny cell. Two days before her death, the psychiatrist who checked Wishma suspected Somatic Symptom Disorder (mental disorder that manifests as physical symptoms that suggest illness or injury). However, the CT scans performed on Wishma on the same day revealed no abnormalities in her brain. But, she was prescribed antipsychotics and sleep inducers.

On the day before her death, she spent most of her time sleeping under the effect of the medicine. On March 6, hours before death, officers who, as usual, visited Wishma to check her blood pressure and pulse could not measure them due to “an error in the technical instruments.” 

After 2 p.m, when officers visited the cell, they found Wishma without a pulse.