An investigation broadcast by Hiru’s CIA programme alleges that a lecturer at the Ocean University of Sri Lanka’s Negombo campus is subjecting students to sustained physical and mental abuse.
The allegations were first raised by the mother of a student. “Our sons study at Ocean University. Students are assaulted inhumanely,” she told the programme. “They are beaten on their backs. They are beaten until broom handles break. They are made to do dips. They are made to walk around with dirty dustbins on their heads.” She said students returned home unable to sit down, lying face down because of the pain, and appealed for action.
Hiru says its reporters went to the campus and observed the lecturer ordering students to sit on the floor and directing another student to perform dips. Students told the programme that those unable to complete the number of dips demanded of them are subjected to a further punishment they described as whip lashes, and that broom handles used in beatings sometimes break. The report says injuries were visible on some students, and that students who objected to being struck inside lecture halls were made to kneel outside them.
The broadcaster said it holds video evidence and asked whether higher authorities would act.
The claims have not been independently verified, and the lecturer has not been named. No response from the Ocean University of Sri Lanka, the University Grants Commission or the Ministry of Education had been reported at the time of writing, and no complaint to police or to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has been disclosed.
The Ocean University of Sri Lanka is a state higher education institution specialising in maritime, fisheries and ocean sciences, with campuses and regional centres around the coast.