Gampola murder case: Girl not raped

The postmortem on the body of 22-year-old girl Fathima Munawwara who had been killed on the way to her workplace a week ago has revealed that she had not been raped by the assailant.

The body was exhumed on Saturday (13) in the presence of Gampola Actg. Magistrate Ranjith Premaratne and Kandy JMO Dr, R.P. Jayasuriya after the police arrested a man in this connection who had later confessed to the murder. The body was identified by the victim's parents and relatives including her brother.

The pit in which her body had been buried was not deep enough and the body was recovered when earth was removed by hand.

Her mobile phone, parcel of lunch, handbag and the keys of the pharmacy where she had been employed were recovered from the pit. However, the suspect had thrown her pair of slippers and the bottle of water into the jungle. Her wristwatch which had fallen on the ground when she was being dragged into the jungle was recovered by the police.

The young girl employed at a pharmacy was on her way to take the bus to Gelioya when she had been dragged into a shrub jungle and strangled to death. Gampola police and her relatives had been searching for her until the police arrested a 24-year-old young man on suspicion.

The suspect identified as Ahamed was a livestock farmer of the area and father of two children. Police had arrested the suspect hiding at a house in Gampolawela area on information received from an anonymous informant.

Police believe that he had taken the young woman by force into the coconut estate to rape her but strangled to death when she struggled to escape him.

The body was referred to JMO Kandy National Hospital for postmortem examination.

OIC Gampola Police CI Laksiri Fernando, OIC, SOCO Unit, CI Champila Wimalaratne, IP Priyantha Bandara, OIC Crime Branch IP Kumarasinghe, IP Jayantha, WIP Rasika, IP Dasanayaka, SI Palitha, SI Thissa, and Sergeant 33128Disanayake,Sergeant 12642 Ratnayaka, 21002 Bandula WPS 2972 Inoka Udagedara, PCs 101295 Wimalasurendra, 101329 Chandrasena, WPCs 1937 Pradepa, and 9205 Ishanka had conducted invstigations on the instructions of SP Gampola Division Roshan Amarasinhe. (Suranga Rajanayake)