By RYUICHI KITANO/ Senior Staff Writer
May 30, 2021 at 18:31 JST
Wayomi, right on the front row, and her sister Poornima, to her right, at a gathering to remember their sister, Wishma Sandamali, at Tsukiji Hongwanji temple in Tokyo on May 29. (Rei Kishitsu)
The sisters of a 33-year-old Sri Lankan woman who died while being held in detention at an immigration facility for overstaying her visa are continuing their campaign for the “truth” surrounding her death with renewed calls for the release of surveillance camera footage.
“It breaks my heart when I think about my sister who died in pain in Japan, a country that she had loved,” said Wishma Sandamali’s sister Wayomi, 28, at a gathering in Tokyo to remember Wishma. About 500 mourners visited Tsukiji Hongwanji temple in Chuo Ward.
“I want to know the truth about the circumstances that led to her death,” Wayomi told some of the mourners at the temple.
Wishma died at the detention facility in Nagoya in March after experiencing severe nausea and having difficulty walking. She was detained in August 2020 for overstaying her visa.
Wayomi and her sister Poornima, 26, arrived in Japan on May 1. After completing quarantine procedures to guard against novel coronavirus infection, they attended Wishima's funeral in Nagoya on May 16.
They also traveled to Shizuoka Prefecture to attend a memorial service performed May 23 according to Sri Lankan custom at a temple in Fujinomiya.
The women are demanding the release of a video footage of their sister while she was detained, saying that without watching it they cannot tell their grieving mother back in Sri Lanka what really happened to her daughter.
They have decided to extend their stay in Japan for 90 days although they had initially planned to leave at the end of May.
Their previous request for access to video footage was rejected by Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa for “security reasons.” The Justice Ministry oversees immigration facilities.
The Immigration Services Agency is working to issue its final report into Wishima's death. The sisters will wait for the report and continue to press for the release of the footage as well as details leading up to her death.
Wishima arrived in Japan as a student in 2017.
Sisters to Sri Lankan who died urge minister to release video
May 19, 2021
Memorial service held for Sri Lankan who died in detention
May 24, 2021
Sri Lanka family wants to know why daughter died in detention
May 13, 2021
Sisters of Sri Lankan who died in detention slam officials’ account
May 18, 2021
Funeral service held in Nagoya for Sri Lankan detainee
May 17, 2021
Refusal to release video of Sri Lankan’s death raises suspicions
May 20, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
