Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali's younger sister Poornima speaks to reporters before filing a criminal complaint with the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office on Nov. 9, 2021. (Kyodo)

       NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- The family of a Sri Lankan woman who died in March while being detained at an immigration center in central Japan filed a criminal complaint against senior officials of the facility on Tuesday, accusing them of killing her, sources close to the matter said.

       The two younger sisters of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, 33, have accused the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau of failing to provide her with appropriate medical care and say their conduct amounted to willful negligence.

       Wishma, who came to Japan in 2017 on a student visa, was taken to the facility in Nagoya in August 2020 after overstaying her visa. She died on March 6 while in custody after complaining of stomach pain and other symptoms from mid-January.

       An investigation report released in August by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan found that staff at the facility lacked awareness of handling crises, and there were problems with the center's medical and information sharing system.

       But as the probe could not determine the cause of Wishma's death, her family filed the complaint with the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office to get at the truth.

       Following the report's release, the agency edited two weeks' worth of surveillance camera footage showing Wishma before her death into around two hours and disclosed it to her family.

       On Oct. 1, the family and lawyers watched a portion of the footage at the Nagoya District Court as part of evidence preparation after having announced their intention also to file a lawsuit seeking state compensation.

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