An officer who provided demonstrators with an on-the-spot piano show when they stormed the island nation’s presidential residence last year has been fired, the Sri Lankan police department announced on Friday.
On the day that demonstrators took over the colonial-era home and forced the then-president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to depart the nation, constable R. M. D. Dayaratne was sent to help defend it.
Instead, he played a song for the audience that was milling around the compound’s rooms while seated at a grand piano.
“Dayaratne was on social media playing the piano while the building was beingn vandalised,” a senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
“He was our Nero,” the officer added, referring to the ancient Roman emperor said to have played the fiddle while the city burned in a weeklong fire.
After a thorough inquiry, police authorities came to the conclusion that the constable had violated discipline.
Protesters had been camping outside Rajapaksa’s office for months, calling for him to resign in response to the island nation’s catastrophic economic crisis, when the compound was stormed in July 2022.
After seizing the home, protesters were subsequently seen leaping on Rajapaksa’s four-poster bed and having fun in the presidential pool.
Rajapaksa was charged for causing the slump, which produced significant shortages of food, fuel, and medicines, by fostering corruption and poor administration.
Although he has subsequently returned to Sri Lanka, he was compelled to seek temporary exile in Singapore, from where he announced his resignation.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, his successor, has announced an amnesty for anyone who returns stolen historical items.
