Human rights lawyers have lodged a petition at the Supreme Court over the death of political prisoner Ganesan Nimalaruban.

Working with Mr Nimalaruban’s parents the lawyers are seeking to overturn a court ruling that he must be cremated by authorities near Colombo.

Speaking to BBC Tamil, Mr Nimalaruban’s mother Rajeswari Ganesan said:

“The arms and legs of my child, lying as a corpse, were broken. There were wounds on his chest and head.

“The prison authorities insisted that we sign [their report] as soon as they had showed us the body. But we have explicitly refused. The prison authorities are responsible for the death of my son.

“Our wish was to see the marriage of our only son. That is no more. We must at least perform his last rites at home.”

Mrs Ganesan has rejected the authorities’ claims that a funeral in their home district of Vavuniya would be a security risk.