Main suspect in Kalutara teen girl’s death denies murder accusations

The main suspect, who was arrested in connection with the suspicious death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kalutara on May 06, has told the police that the teen jumped off the window of the hotel room they were staying at.

Based on a tip-off received by the Kalutara Police, the suspect was arrested early this morning (May 09) in the area of Hikkaduwa. He was identified as a 29-year-old named Danushka Gayan Sahabandu from Isuru Uyana in Kalutara.

After learning that the suspect was planning to arrive in Ambalangoda to hire a car in the early hours of the day, the Kalutara South Police launched an extensive operation to apprehend him by deploying an undercover officer who was posing as the car renter.

Rs. 95,000 in cash was also found on the suspect at the time of the arrest.

After he was brought to the Kalutara South police for onward legal proceedings, the 29-year-old pleaded innocent, claiming that the teenage girl was not murdered but she had, in fact, jumped off the hotel building.

In his statement, the suspect further mentioned he was not acquainted with the schoolgirl prior to meeting her for the first time on that fateful day and that he was introduced to her by the 22-year-old who is currently in custody in connection with the incident.

The naked body of the 16-year-old was found on May 06 near the five-storey hotel building, located next to the railway tracks in Kalutara.

The 29-year-old told the police that he visited the hotel on May 06 along with another young couple and the 16-year-old girl after renting two rooms on the third floor. He also admitted to consuming alcohol with them.

Later, the young couple left the hotel premises, while the suspect stayed behind with the schoolgirl.

In his statement given to the police, the suspect confessed that they have had no sexual intercourse, despite being intimate with one another.

According to him, the teen, in the interim, had received a call during which she yelled at the caller using foul words.

Soon after the call ended, she climbed onto the chair next to the window and jumped off the building following which he left the hotel premises in a state of panic, the suspect further told the police.

However, the police said further investigations are underway to ascertain the veracity of the arrestee’s statement.

In the meantime, the young couple – a girl aged 19 and a 22-year-old male – who were with the main suspect and the deceased girl were later arrested after they surrendered to the police. Meanwhile, another person, identified as the driver of the car in which the group arrived at the hotel, is also currently under arrest. The trio has been put behind bars on remand until May 15 after being produced before Kalutara Magistrate’s Court.

Probes into the incident revealed that the National Identity Card (NIC) produced by the 16-year-old girl in order to rent a room at the hotel, in fact, belongs to one of her friends.

Meanwhile, the investigators are looking into the mobile phone records of the deceased girl to find out more about the alleged telephone call she received while she was with the suspect.

They also uncovered that the 22-year-old youth in custody had discarded the schoolgirl’s mobile phone into the Kalu River soon after her heath.

According to the police, the medical reports indicated that the deceased student had not been sexually assaulted prior to her death.