Akuregoda double murder: A shift from ‘normal’ execution

The Akuregoda twin killings may signal a shift from the mafia’s  ‘unwritten law’

Even the Sicilian and American mafias have often tried not to kill women due to a code of honour known as ‘Omerta’ which prohibited harming women and children

A very disturbing aspect of the recent Akuregoda double murder – of a lawyer and his wife – is that the wife wasn’t spared by the killers. 

Investigations so far have revealed that this was a revenge killing. The slain lawyer was representing a rival of a mafia figure now hiding in Dubai. The murders were carried out, not merely as punishment to the victim, but  as a warning to the entire legal community.

The victim could have been warned without resorting to murder. It isn’t known if warnings had been issued but ignored. The wife, who isn’t a lawyer and presumably has nothing to do with her husband’s legal activities, was killed together with her husband.

As far as this writer can determine, Sri Lanka’s underworld has no history of killing the spouses or any other female family members of their enemies. Nor was this carried out in contract killings of strangers. Therefore,  this double murder could signal a chilling new chapter in the country’s criminal history.

The only such mafia-related incident which comes to mind goes back to the 1990s – when Mafia boss Soththi Upali abducted and killed the aunt of his rival gangsters Chinthaka Amarasinghe and his elder brother. Her ‘crime’ was to have raised them as children in the absence of their mother. 

Interestingly, even the Sicilian and American mafias have often tried not to kill women due to a code of honour known as ‘Omerta’ which prohibited harming women and children. Women were killed if they were seen as witnesses, informants or actively involved in vendettas. In this instance, the American police forces are more dangerous than the underworld – the Police recently shot dead a young black mother who called for help; President Donald Trump’s ICE (Immigration Control and Enforcement) federal police have killed a white woman activist in Minneapolis, and their methods when arresting female immigrants are atrocious.

In fact, stories of killing women for revenge as a modus operandi sprang during the bleak years of insurrection and civil war – during the two JVP insurrections in the south, and the civil war in the north. Such atrocities were carried out by both sides – the rebels,  and the security forces and paramilitaries aiding them.

Before delving into that, however, we should look at our ancient history. As written historical sources such as the Mahawamsa show, it was bloody enough, a blistering narrative of regicide, fratricide, civil war and invasions. But there is no record of women put to death for crimes committed by their spouses or families. This is the opinion of Prof. Raj Somadeva, a leading authority on archaeology and history. 

The first such recorded instance, as far as it can be ascertained, is the slaying of Ehelepola Kumarihami, the wife of Ehelepola Maha Adikaram,   along with their children in Kandy during the 19th century as ordered by King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe. In the Kandyan kingdom, there was a tradition of banishing the families of those deemed traitors to the crown to live with low-caste people. Robert Knox confirms this in his 17th century writing. It is said that wives of ‘traitors’ were given the choice of death by drowning or a low-caste life. If true, this would be an exceptional case of royal punishment doted out to women married to rebellious noblemen.

Women would have been victims of outrages committed by combatants during civil wars and invasions as armies rampaged through villages and cities, though there is no factual record of such events till the Portuguese arrived. Historians such as De Queyroz recorded how men, women and children were slain by Portuguese soldiers when commanded by barbaric captain generals such as De Azavedo. These are war crimes. Atrocities were committed by British colonial troops carrying out a scorched earth policy during the 1818 rebellion. But no female family members of rebel leaders such as Keppetipola Disawe were penalised, and the queen and retinue of King Sri Wickerma Raja Sinha were saved from mobs by the British and given protection  in 1815.

Generally speaking, however, there is no history of killing women, high or low,  or putting them to torture as an official policy throughout ancient Sri Lankan history, excepting the 19th century Ehelepola murders and, if we go back to pre-Buddhist times, the slaying of Kuveni by her vengeful clansmen after she was cast aside by Vijaya (an unconfirmed legend). This contrasts with Western history – French warrior Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake by her vengeful English captors, and  how  Soviet women POWs were brutally treated and killed by the Germans in World War II.  

Between 1450 and 1750, up to 60,000 Europeans were killed for witchcraft, and roughly 80% were women, usually burnt at the stake. Four English queens (or consorts) were executed during the 16th century Tudor period – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both wives of Henry the Eighth, Lady Jane Grey and Mary, Queen of Scots. Of the 17,000 people guillotined during the French revolution, many were women though the exact number is not known. Torture of women was widespread. Many women suffered or perished under the infamous Spanish Inquisition. 

Therefore, we may consider that the torture and killing of women (for political crimes, not personal vendettas, or crimes of passion) was uncommon in Sri Lanka down the centuries, and never official policy. It became official policy (i.e carried out ‘unofficially’  by the security forces, paramilitaries or rebels, as the case may be) only from 1971 onwards. The murder of JVP member Premawathi Manamperi in April 1971 was the most highlighted such event of the 1971 insurrection. Though mass executions of captured rebels was carried out during the early stages, women were not reported among them. But there were widespread cases of abuse and torture of captured female rebels in custody. 

The same occurred in the North, when the military and police were accused of torturing and killing captured Tamil suspects, both male and female,  while the LTTE carried out its notorious ‘lamp post’ killings. When their intended victim fled, a family member (including wife or sister) was tied to a lamp post and shot. Dr. Rajini Thiranagama slain for her political views is perhaps the best known victim of the Tigers’ wrath, killed while cycling to the university. 

In the second JVP insurrection of 1987, significant numbers of women were executed by both sides. Exact numbers are not known, we only know of high-profile victims. TV announcer Sagarika Gomes is one. But these can be termed political killings, though other motives were present, too. Given this macabre 20th century legacy of Sri Lanka, the interesting thing is that the mafia didn’t exact revenge from women related to their enemies. 

That’s why this non-gender based bloodletting is strikingly political in nature. But the Akuregoda double murder may signal a shift from this ‘unwritten law.’