<p>Sri Lankan police in Jaffna have been accused of torturing two Tamil men, driving one to attempt suicide in custody.</p>
<p>Koppay police arrested two young Tamil men on December 24 purportedly in connection with a robbery in the area.</p>
<p>The two were tortured during 72 hours of detention, despite arrest laws stating that suspects should be produced before a court within 24 hours of arrest.</p>
<p>When they were finally produced in court on Thursday, December 27, one of the detained youths testified to the court that he had been tortured and beaten so badly that he attempted suicide on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>The two were probably only produced in court as a result of the suicide attempt, the youth said in court.</p>
<p>The Jaffna magistrate judge granted the two bail and adjourned the case to a later date.</p>
<p>Koppay police had been reprimanded in November by the magistrates for a previous incident of torture which had led to a suicide attempt and the hospitalisation of a suspect arrested for drug-possession.</p>
<p>The Jaffna branch of the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) said that they had received 31 complaints of torture in the period between January and November 2018, up from last year.</p>
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