Mystery of the missing maiden

Sunday Crime by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

The gruesome murder of a spinster in Medalandawatte leaves the Kurunegala district in deep shock and grief.

Sumithra Nandani Herath (30) was the youngest in a family of five sisters. Being the youngest in the family she was fortunate enough to inherit their ancestral home at Dharmapala Mawatha, at Medalandawatte, Kurunegala after the death of her parents. However she was not destined to enjoy the gift she received for long.

The innocent woman was allegedly strangled to death by her disgruntled brother in law. He was married to Nandani's elder sister. In fact her brother-in-law had made several unsuccessful attempts to rape her previously.

Nandani had lodged several complaints regarding the attempted rape at the Kurunegala police. Her brother-in-law, a barber by profession was married to her eldest sister Pushparani. All this happened while her sister was away in the Middle -East. She had gone there for employment.

Nandani was a spinster who shared her ancestral home with her elder sister Pushparani and her husband and their daughter. She lived in the front room and her sister occupied the rest of the house. Her two other elder sisters were married and lived elsewhere. Nandani was an unemployed woman. She went overseas for employment and had returned to the country a few years ago.

OIC Crimes, Kurunegala police station Inspector Indika Prasanne Prematilleke said the attempted rape was investigated by the Police Women and Children's Bureau unit.

After the attempted rape, Nandani left her ancestral home and went to live with her second sister at Bakmegolle in the Kurunegala area. Later this year she joined her third sister who lived in Negombo. On the 9th of May Nandani along with her two sisters visited their ancestral home in connection with an alms giving ceremony.

On May 11th Nandani with her sister and her family stayed at a relative's house at Wellawa area for a few days. While her sister and her family returned to Negombo, Nandani went back to her ancestral home. She informed her sister that she had to clean her room.

However when Nandani did not return to Negombo as promised, her sister began to worry. To alleviate fears she phoned a relative who lived at Medalandawatte. She told him to check whether Nandani was at home. The relative visited Nandani's home and met her elder sister Pushparani who informed him that Nandani had gone back to Negombo.

The relative telephoned and informed the news to Nandani's sister. Although she tried to contact Nandani over the cellular phone it was of no avail. She panicked when there was no trace of Nandani. The disappearance of Nandani began to worry her.

On the following day she travelled to Kurunegala and lodged a complaint at the Police station of the mysterious disappearance of her sister. It was at this stage that the Kurunegala police began investigating the disappearance of Nandani. Police Sergeant Wasantha visited Nandani's house.

There was an aura of seriousness about the place. When he questioned Pushparani, about Nandani's where - abouts she told him that her sister had already left for Negombo. When he inquired about her husband she told him that he had gone to his native village at Rabukkana, in the Kegalle area.

Police Sergeant, Wasantha, however was not satisfied with her explanation. He searched the length and breadth of the house and found a metal trunk placed in a room adjoining the kitchen.

He then opened the trunk and found the decomposed body of Nandani dumped inside. The body was wrapped with pieces of clothe to shield its identity. Pushparani was taken into custody for further questioning.

Meanwhile OIC Crimes, Kegalle Police Station, Inspector Indika Prasanne Prematille despatched a team to Rambukkana area to arrest the suspect the barber. He was absconding after committing the murder. A few days later the suspect surrendered to the police station through a priest from the area.

The people in the homely and quiet village of Medalandawatte were shocked and grief- stricken when they heard about the gruesome murder of Nandani. Further investigations are being directed by HQI Kurunegala, Chief Inspector Anil Priyantha.