Japan to fight damages suit filed by kin of dead Sri Lankan woman

• Published date: 29 May 2022
• Publication title: Colombo Gazette

The Japanese government will fight a 156 million ($1.23 million) damages lawsuit filed by relatives of a Sri Lankan woman who died last year while in custody at an immigration center in Nagoya, sources said Sunday.The family of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, who alleges she was illegally detained and died due to a lack of necessary medical care, filed the lawsuit at the Nagoya District Court in March, two days before the first anniversary of her death.

The first oral proceedings will be held at the court on June 8.Wishma died at the age of 33 on March 6 last year at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau following a month of medical complaints, including vomiting and stomachaches.

Her family claims that the government refused to grant her provisional release despite her deteriorating health to pressure her to return to Sri Lanka, resulting in her death.Wishma arrived in Japan on a student visa in 2017 to study the Japanese language but overstayed her visa, with her asylum application...