Grass cutter arrested over 5-year-old’s death further remanded

The grass cutter arrested over the death of a five-year-old boy in Mulleriyawa has been further remanded until June 30.

The 52-year-old was produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (June 15).

The police arrested the suspect in connection with the death of a five-year-old who was found dead after suffering critical cut wounds at a construction site in Halbarawa, Mulleriyawa on the night of June 08.

It was initially believed that the child had died due to excessive bleeding caused by the pieces of a broken glass bottle which was found nearly 4 feet away from body. However, suspicions were raised as no blood stains were observed between the body and the shards.

Later, the grass cutter, who had been in the vicinity of the construction site that day, was placed under arrest on suspicion.

During investigations, he confessed that the five-year-old, named Jonathan Mark Fonseka, in fact, died after the blades of his lawnmower struck the boy accidently.

Stating that he was grappled with panic at the time, the grass cutter admitted to placing the pieces of a broken glass bottle found nearby to make it look like that the boy died from the cut wounds caused by the shards.

It was reported that the child was looked after by his grandparents during the daytime, while his mother, who is separated from her husband, was away at work. However, on the day of the incident, the grandfather had gone out to get some work done after leaving the child with the grass cutter who was working at the construction site where he was employed as a caretaker.

The grandfather, too, was later arrested over his failure to provide necessary protection for the child, however, he was released on two surety bails of Rs. 300,000 each, and was also ordered to appear before the courts today.