Land dispute and love affair lead to killing of two women

It was a protracted struggle between two closely related farming families in Galnewa in the Anuradhapura district over a paddy land that led to the killing of a woman and grievously injuring her husband last week. The dispute centred around a two and a half acre paddy land located in the same village. Muthumenike Kumarasinghe and her husband Wijetilleke inherited the paddy land from their parents much to the envy of his brother-in-law who resided in the same village. They were all residents of “Elapara” Galnewa, a dusty hamlet in the Mahaweli zone.

Muthumenike’s inheritance of a two and a half acre of paddy land led to the animosity among her closely related families in the village. Particularly her brother-in-law, who was married to her younger sister breathed fire over the bequeathal. His bone of contention was that his wife, being the younger sister was also entitled to a share of the paddy land as well. The dispute regarding the paddy field strained the relationship between his sister-in-law and the husband. He kept on asking from his sister-in-law for a share of the paddy field. He was under the impression that his wife was legitimately entitled for a portion of the paddy field. But the sister-in-law did not respond positively.

The simmering dispute went on like this for a couple of years. But things came to a boiling point last week when the enraged brother-in-law went to his sister-in-law’s home uninvited. They discussed the thorny issue of the paddy land for sometime which led to a heated argument between the sister and the brother-in-law last week. The enraged brother-in-law thereafter dashed into the kitchen and having picked up a knife came back to the drawing room where his sister-in-law was. Shouting obscene language at his sister and brother-in-law he began to attack the woman first. He chopped her first with the curved knife several times. She yelled out for help and screamed loudly while being attacked. When her husband tried to shield her, he too was ruthlessly attacked. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly. Police said the husband and wife did not have a chance to escape. But before the neighbours rushed in to the house the attacker fled from the house.

Muthumenike Kumarasinghe was 56, and Wijetilleke 60 were an elderly couple who minded their own business. They lived at their home situated at D 3 “Elapara” in the Mahaweli West Zone in Galnewa. The village is located in the Anuradhapura district. They lived with their younger son. Their older daughter was given in marriage to a person who lived at Nochchiyagama. When the old couple was attacked, their son was away from home.

He had gone to the town to attend to some business. “Fortunately he wasn’t at home. Otherwise he too would have been a victim of the vicious attack, police said. On hearing the couple screaming and groaning, neighbours rushed in there and found the old couple lying in a pool of blood. They were in a critical state due to haemorrhage. However, with the help of the neighbours, the villagers despatched the injured to the Galnewa government hospital.

The injured were transferred to the Anuradhapura hospital as they were in a critical condition. Muthumenike succumbed to her injuries at the Anuradhapura hospital but her husband is still in a critical state. Meanwhile, a team of policemen from Galnewa arrested the suspect brother-in-law and recovered the knife used in the killing. The suspect has been produced in court and remanded till investigations are completed. OIC Galnewa police station, Inspector C. Gandarawatte is investigating the murder.

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Last week another bizarre killing was reported from the Kalawana area when a woman soldier who returned home on leave was stabbed to death by her lover, a soldier attached to an army unit in the Northern peninsula. The woman soldier who had a heated argument with her lover over a third person in question led to the stabbing, police said. The deceased woman soldier has been identified as Niluka Padmini, a 24-year-old unmarried woman who resided at Nikkagoda in the Kukule-Ganga area in the Kalawana Grama Niladhari division.

The woman soldier was a recruit attached to an army camp in Colombo. She had a love affair with a soldier who she met in Colombo during the past eight months. However, the relationship had turned sour in recent times. The woman soldier is alleged to have shown an indifference towards her lover.

According to police the suspect soldier had learnt that his girl friend was carrying on with someone else whom she had met subsequently. “This angered him to a great extent,” police said. The suspect soldier, a native from Matara had visited Padmini’s residence on a number of occasions. On the day of the incident he was at her Kukule-Ganga home and the stabbing had taken place in the morning hours, police said.

The Kalawana police is investigating the killing.