Photo/Illutration Wishma Sandamali’s sister Wayomi speaks beside Wishma’s portrait at a news conference in Nagoya in June. Seated to her right is her sister Poornima. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

I visited the brick-colored building of the Nagoya District Court last week to watch a video of how Sri Lankan Wishma Sandamali fared before she died at an immigration facility in Nagoya.

After going through some formalities, I sat in front of a computer that the court set up. Minutes into the video, I felt my face stiffen.

“I die today,” she said, vomiting in bed and complaining of pain.

“Take me to the hospital, please. Please.” She repeatedly begged immigration officials to let her see a doctor until she was too weak to speak.

It was as if she was being tortured, albeit without violence.

Her relatives claimed she had been “treated like an animal,” and I could not agree more.

Some officials were even chatting and laughing by her side. I believe the way the entire immigration organization worked allowed for that sort of aberrant behavior.

In his 1974 book “Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View,” U.S. social psychologist Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) theorized that people who have become part of an authoritarian system start thinking that they do not have to be responsible for their actions.

Such irresponsibility leads to atrocities behind closed doors, Milgram maintained.

I asked myself how I would act if I were one of the immigration officials. Would I have rebelled against the status quo, defied superiors and saved Wishma?

Or am I also capable of becoming someone who can laugh while another person is suffering right in front of my very eyes? It is frightening to even imagine.

On March 6, it will be exactly two years since Wishma died, but not a single person has yet to be held accountable for her tragic death.

Isn’t there something wrong with a society that allows this to happen?

Exiting the courthouse, I walked along a moat, feeling gloomy. The wind on my cheeks felt bitingly cold.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 3

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Related News