Singhala violence on Singhalese in Mt. Lavinia murder of hotel owner.

Chief Magistrate rules homicide

Death of Mt. Lavinia Windsurf Hotel owner

By Ananda Weerasuriya

Mt. Lavinia Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Harsha Setunga ruled on Tuesday (17) that the death of the owner of Mt. Lavinia Windsurf Hotel after admission to hospital with head injuries was homicide.

The hotel owner Ranjith Premalal Andrew Rajapakse (58) of Soysa Avenue, Mt. Lavinia, a father of two children, was first admitted to the Kalubowila hospital and later transferred to thw Colombo National Hospital where he died on November 21, 2008 and buried at the Mt. Lavinia cemetery.

Sequel to the incident, based on a statement to the police by a security officer of a neighbouring hotel, the hotel manager, another woman and an employee of the hotel were arrested by the Mt. Lavinia police, produced in court and remanded.

The suspects were Liyanage Sunil Seneviratne of Mantrimulla, Attidiya, Nilanthi Kumari Seneviratne of Digana, Ruwanwella and Periyathambi Nadesan Asok Kumar of Elliwatte Ginigathhena.

The security officer of the neighbouring hotel said in his statement that he had seen the deceased beaten by the three people with bars. The wife of the deceased too gave evidence.

On the basis of evidence, the magistrate decided that it was homicide.

The three suspects were remanded till March 30 and further trial was postponed for that date.