Piyawathi’s Story: Custody, Care and Correction

"One night she chopped her mother in law and sister in law who were sleeping on a mat using a big knife. After that she pretended nothing had happened. Her relatives handed her over to the police and she was remanded. Nobody from her family ever visited her at the prison."

by Harhi.C.Perera

(October 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Piyawathi is married with five children and comes from the lower income class. At the age of 52 she was imprisoned for the alleged murder of two people. She never confessed to the crime. Piyawathi's behavior is not normal and does not speak very much. The only evidence in the case was a big knife. The truth was that she committed the crime.

The result of the examination of her behavior revealed that she suffered from a mental disorder which was common in her family. This was the background to this double murder. The family members concerned about this mater after the voluntary consultation of a Ruhuna university student. The general situation was that she had committed the crime. If she was proved guilty the sentence will be very clear.

Although her family members never utter that some of their family members suffered from minor mental disorders the people in their neighborhood gossip about it.

One night she chopped her mother in law and sister in law who were sleeping on a mat using a big knife. After that she pretended nothing had happened. Her relatives handed her over to the police and she was remanded. Nobody from her family ever visited her at the prison. At first no lawyers appeared for her. But one day a relative after the consultation of Ruhuna university student visited the prison. After that a senior lawyer appeared behalf of her and obtained a court order to examine her by a forensic psychiatric. At first she was sent to the Unawatuna mental hospital and from there to the Angoda hospital. The medical reports certified that she had a mental disorder. She was admitted to the Angoda mental hospital where she was treated for several months.

Following the treatment she was sent back to the prison. There she remembered her past and worried about the two killings. She lost her appetite and every night she was sleepless. But the prison authorities didn’t take necessary steps to heal her illness. She was bailed out but the family members, instead of taking her home, took her to a friend’s house in Devundara. One of her daughters died during the tsunami. The other children abandoned further education and engage in small jobs.

Her case is still pending at the Hambanthota High Court. Her mental disorder is a defense for her alleged murder of two people. This will help her to avoid severe punishment. At this very moment the gossip still in her village is that she pretends to be mentally ill because of recovering from a severe punishment.

According to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and Related Recommendations,

B. Insane and mentally abnormal prisoners

82(1) Persons who are found to be insane shall not be detained in prisons and arrangements shall be made to remove them to mental institutions as soon as possible.

(2) Prisoners who suffer from other mental diseases or abnormalities shall be observed and treated in specialized institutions under medical management.

(3)During their stay in a prison, such prisoners shall be placed under the special supervision of a medical officer.

(4) The medical or psychiatric service of the penal institutions shall provide for the psychiatric treatment of all other prisoners who are in need of such treatment.