Sri Lankan who died in detention in Japan Video shown to public

• Approximately 7 minutes of roughly five total hours of  government-provided security camera footage, was shown at a  press conference in Tokyo

Security camera footage showing a Sri Lankan woman before her death in a central Japan detention facility was publicly released Thursday for the first time by lawyers representing her family.  

Approximately 7 minutes of roughly five total hours of government-provided security camera footage showing Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, who died at the age of 33 while being held at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau in March 2021, was shown at a press conference in Tokyo.  A segment of the released footage taken less than two weeks before Wishma’s death shows her bedridden and begging officers to take her to hospital .

 In another piece of footage from the day of her death, an officer tries to wake an unresponsive Wishma after reporting over an intercom that her fingertips feel cold.  

While Wishma’s family and some members of parliament have been able to privately view the footage, which the government submitted as evidence in a lawsuit, it marks the first time a portion of it has been made available to the public.  Wishma arrived in Japan in 2017 as a student but was taken into custody at the immigration facility in August 2020 for overstaying her visa.  

Wishma’s family is seeking damages from the government over her death, alleging she was illegally detained and died due to a lack of required medical care.    (The Mainichi)