All for the sake of gold

Sunday's were hectic days for the two young boys who had a busy program lined up for them. First they had to attend a Dhamma school in their village temple in the morning hours and later attend a tuition class in the evening at Piliyandala. This kept them occupied right throughout the day till they came home. The boys aged twelve and eleven were children of Wimal Malawiarchchi (50) and Nanda Sirimathie (49) who lived at Senasuma Mawatha at Siddamulla, Piliyandala on the outskirts of Kottawa. Malawiarchchi was a native of Elpitiya and his wife Nanda Sirimathie came from IDH area in Kolonnawa. The couple had been living at their residence since 1991 and Malawiarchchi was employed as a supervisor in a hardware store at Kottawa.

The proprietor of the hardware store had provided him with a threewheeler taxi for him to travel back and forth from his work place. It had been a habit for Malawiarchchi to pick up his children after tuition classes and bring them home in the three wheeler. The tuition class where his sons attended were a few kilometres away from their home. Both sons attend Dharamapala Vidyalaya at Pannipitiya.

On that fateful day the father did not turn up to pick up his children after tuition. The day was November 23. The boys were frightened owing to their tender ages. But they summoned up their courage and remained calm expecting their father to turn up at any moment. But it just did not happen. They waited for almost two hours but guessed that something serious may have happened to their father. But all what they could do was to pray for his safety. The boys had no way of cross checking whether anything sinister has happened to their father. But an idea crossed their minds that their aunt lived close by. Perhaps they could explain to her about their dilemma and seek her help to trace their father, they thought.

After hanging around for some time the boys approached their aunt and told their predicament. The aunt on hearing their tale of woe immediately rang up Malawiarchchi's home but the call was not answered. The aunt sensing something serious then rushed to Malawiarchchi's home along with the children and others at home. By the time they approached the house it was around 9 p.m. However the eerie silence baffled them. The house was in pitch darkness with its doors and windows opened. Perhaps something mysterious had happened, they guessed.

The children told the aunt, their home had never been in darkness on Sundays when everybody was present. The aunt too was bemused. Her suspicion was confirmed when she realised that no one was present. The children switched on the lights and called out loudly for their parents. But there was pin drop silence in the house. The children later found the bodies of their parents on a patch of blood in a room upstairs.

According to the Police Media Spokesman, SSP Rangith Gunesekera the assassin had beaten them up with a large crowbar and fled after robbing their gold jewellery. OIC Piliyandala Chief Inspector U. D. Alawatte found the couples almirah ransacked and valuables removed. The children told the police the gold chain that their fathers wore around his neck was missing. But the gold ring on his finger remained intact.

The assassin probably left in a hurry after committing the heinous crime, police said. Police meanwhile are on the lookout for the mason who vanished from the home following the murder. His whereabouts are not known to anyone. Police strongly suspect him to be the prime suspect of the murder.

According to their children the mason had been fixing tiles on the upper room on the day of the incident, According to Police Malaviarchchi had picked up the mason at Piliyandala on his way home on the previous day. The two sons had also travelled in the three wheeler along with the mason.

The mason had called up again on the following day, (on November 23, Sunday,) and was entrusted with the job of fixing tiles on the floor.Malaviarchchi too had assisted the mason to fix tiles. The children had seen the mason at work before they left for the Sunday School. They had seen at work again after returning from the Sunday school. When they left home for tuition, around 2.p.m. they had seen the mason still at work.

Police said the assassin probably committed the murder after the children left home. They are working on the case to establish the motive behind the murder. However the autopsy examination report states the woman had not been raped. During the past few months ghastly type of murders have been reported mostly in the western province which tends to tear up the social fabric of the society.