The prime suspect in the murder of a 17-year-old girl from Elpitiya was arrested on Tuesday night (March 12), the police said.
The arrestee was identified as the deceased’s brother-in-law, named Sudesh Priyankara. During interrogations, he has confessed to killing his wife’s younger sister over her alleged romantic involvement with another man.
The suspect has been remanded until March 21 after being produced before the Elpitiya Magistrate’s Court.
About a month-and-a-half ago, Hansika Nadeeshani, originally from Thalgahawatta area of Mandakanda in Karandeniya, had stayed with her sister for a while to help take care of her two kids. During her stay, she was purportedly romantically involved with her brother-in-law, according to police reports.
According to Nadeeshani’s father, she had been forcibly taken away by her brother-in-law on two occasions, however, the parents had managed to bring her back home both times.
Against this backdrop, the girl’s family filed a complaint with the police last Wednesday (March 6).
Upon receiving summons from the police to hear the complaint, Nadeeshani, along with her mother and another sister, had been on her way to the Elpitiya police station on Friday morning (March 8) when her brother-in-law once again forcibly took her away by blocking the three-wheeler the trio was travelling in.
Subsequently, Nadeeshani’s mother lodged another complaint with the Elpitiya police, but the girl’s body was later located at a tea estate in Thalgahawatta on Saturday (March 9). She was found to have died of a cut-throat injury.
The police then launched a manhunt for the brother-in-law who was on the run. Meanwhile, the driver of the three-wheeler which Priyankara had arrived in was later arrested after he surrendered to the Karandeniya Police.
The arrestee had told the investigators that he was merely a three-wheeler driver hired by the suspect for the ride, and admitted to dropping them off at Nanayakkara Mawatha, located adjacent to the said tea estate where the body was discovered.
