Mystery surrounds killing of women

Niladura village located in the Divulwela area is a desolate village off Kahawatte in the Sabaragamuwa province. Niladura village acquired notoriety almost three years ago owing to several unsolved murders committed in the area. The victims were elderly women who lived in the area. They had been brutally killed by a mysterious serial killer, police said.

Five elderly women who lived in the villages of Kotakothana, Divulgala, Opatha, Kattange and Niladura were killed during the past three years.

They were killed in a ruthless manner by inflicting grevious injuries on their heads.

The women had lived alone in their homes when they were massacred. Police investigating the killings say that there is a semblance to the pattern of the murders.

The modus operandi of the killer was same, police say. The victims heads had been wrapped with pieces of cloth as if to conceal the wounds., police said. According to police it was evident that an axe, a crowbar or a sword had been used by the killer to attack the women while they were alone. However the killer is still at large. A police team under the supervision of OIC Kahawatte Inspector Roshan Aluthgamage and OIC Crimes Inspector Kodituwakku is investigating the series of murders. Police said the motive for the killings is not known as yet.

The victims were poor women who did not either own large properties or had not been raped, according to police.

The post mortem examination conducted by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the Ratnapura hospital into the murder of Karunawathie who was killed nearly 10 days ago, has not revealed any evidence of rape.

Several questions remained unanswered and are baffling the police. Five women in the Divulwela village have been killed under mysterious circumstances and no suspect has been arrested as yet. This brings to memory the book on the infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper who roamed the streets of London, centuries ago.

The Niladura village came into the spotlight again ten days ago when an elderly unmarried woman named Opathalage Karunawathie (67) was brutally hit on her head and killed while she was on her way home. The killer had then set fire to the house and escaped. The incident happened on April 3, around 10.00 pm while she was on her way home that night. She had been walking alone at that time after visiting her brother’s home located about 100 metres away.

“We suspect the killer stalked her and then attacked her with a weapon near her home. When she fell unconscious, the killer dragged her body home and set fire to the house. This was probably a cover up to show that she had died of burn injuries, police said.

It was around 12.30 am when people in her neighbourhood woke and noticed columns of black smoke billowing into the sky from the victim’s home. Neighbours rushed in along with the woman’s brother and managed to douse the fire by pouring buckets of water. When the fire was extinguished the victim’s brother found Karunawathie’s charred body lying on the bed. He then informed the Kahawatte police and related his harrowing tale to the police. OIC Kahawatte police station, Inspector Roshan Aluthgamage and OIC Crimes Inspector Kodituwakku arrived there with a police party to investigate the killing.

Police found Karunawathie’s head wrapped with pieces of cloth to conceal wounds inflicted on her head. When the clothing was removed they found deep cut wounds on her head. The killer had bashed her head with a pointed weapon and then covered it with pieces of cloth. “It is evident that the attack had taken place outside her home while she was returning home.

The killer obviously had stalked her. No sooner the woman collapsed the killer dragged her to her bedroom and placed her on her bed. “We examined the pathway leading up to her home and found a trail of blood stains leading right up to her home,” police said.

However, neighbours told police that Karunawthie never slept on her bed and preferred to sleep on the floor. Police investigating the murders said the killer had targeted elderly feeble women who lived in the Divulwela area during the past two years. Last week the Sunday Observer reported the mysterious killing of an unmarried woman who lived with her parents at Bandaragama. Her body was found dumped in the garage of her home with cut wounds on her neck.

Although a suspect from Moratuwa area was arrested in connection with the killing, he had denied any knowledge of the killing. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has now taken over the investigation and will move in for a DNA test through courts to establish the link between the suspect in custody and the deceased.

The Sunday Observer also reported the murder of the film actress and a film producer Vinu Wettamuni who was strangled to death while she was asleep in her home at Ratmalana.

The assassin trespassed into her room and strangled her by tying a shoe lace around her neck. The killer is still at large and the police have not traced the killer so far.

We reported another incident, where a 67-year-old unmarried woman was strangled to death at her home at Mawathagama last week.

The woman’s hands and legs were tied and pieces of cloth trussed in her mouth.

The killer escaped through the rear door with her valuables and cash, amounting to Rs. 28,000, which she had withdrawn from a bank. Police have not arrested the killer linked to the murder.