The final rites of the Tamil teenager who was fatally shot by Sri Lankan police in Allaipiddy were held today at his residence in Sithankeni, Vaddukoddai, as relatives and members of the public demanded accountability for the killing.
The boy, identified by his family as 17-year-old Albino Arul Pius, also known as Ayubraj Arul from the Vaddukottai area, was laid out at his home where mourners gathered to pay their respects. Following the funeral rites, relatives carried the body onto the road and staged a protest, holding placards and raising slogans including, “Arrest the police,” “We demand justice for our child,” and “Police brutality continues.”
After the demonstration, the body was taken to the Navaly Hindu cemetery where he was laid to rest.
The killing took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning when Sri Lankan police opened fire on a van in the Allaipiddy area of Kayts that they claim failed to comply with orders at a checkpoint. The teenager, who was driving the vehicle, was struck by gunfire and died from his injuries.
An autopsy conducted at Jaffna Teaching Hospital confirmed that the fatal bullet entered his forehead, penetrated his head and pierced his brain.
His family has rejected police claims surrounding the incident and confirmed that he was born on 9 November 2008, making him 17 years and three months old at the time of his death. While police initially stated that the deceased was 17, a subsequent media release claimed he was 19, a discrepancy widely reported in the southern Sri Lankan press. Relatives have accused the police of altering his age in an apparent attempt to deflect outrage over the killing of a child.
Family members state that he had been ferrying labourers in order to earn a living. His maternal aunt said the teenager had been travelling to Velanai to pick up workers when police opened fire. Due to severe economic hardship, he had begun working as a driver at the age of seventeen. Disputing the police account, she alleged that although he did not possess a valid driving licence, he had continued working by paying bribes to officers. She further claimed that he did not stop at the checkpoint because he had no money with him at the time. “They shot and killed him unjustly,” she said.
Further allegations have emerged that police attempted to intimidate the family in the immediate aftermath of the shooting to prevent public protests. According to relatives, a person identifying himself as an officer from the Vaddukottai police station contacted them by telephone and asked whether they were planning to carry out protests using the boy’s body. The caller is alleged to have told the family, “Do not protest now. If any politicians come, do not talk to them.” The family described the call as an indirect threat aimed at pressuring them to conduct the funeral without public mobilisation.
Legal proceedings into the shooting are now underway, with inquiries being conducted in court.
The killing has intensified fears across the Tamil homeland over the conduct of security forces, where checkpoints and armed policing remain routine years after the end of the armed conflict.
