Hotel killing suspect referred to Psychiatrist

2 March 2012 01:19 pm

The Colombo Fort Magistrate today called for a psychiatric report regarding the suspect Sinnathurai Gnana Chandran who was arrested over the killing of his 49-year-old wife in a room of a star-class hotel in Kollupitiya last week.

The magistrate called for the report after the police informed Court that the suspect might be suffering from a mental illness. The postmortem examination said the probable medical cause of death was due to a stab injury to the chest. 

The Colombo Fort Magistrate ordered that the suspect be remanded till March 8.

The Kollupitiya police told court that investigations conducted so far had revealed that the man had killed his wife over a disagreement about settling down in Britain.

Police said that though the wife had wanted to settle down in Britain, the husband had refused to do so and this must have led to the killing. 

Sudarashani Kanagasabay’s body with several stab injuries was found in a Kollupitiya hotel room last week.

The hotel staff in their statements had mentioned she was with a man in the room and were last seen together on February 23. A knife which is alleged to have been used in the crime had been taken into police custody.  (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)