Gruesome murder of Chandrawathi, drug dealer main suspect

By Jayampathy Jayasinghe

Kahawatte once again came into the spotlight with the murder of a woman reported from the Kotakethana village last Wednesday. It caused fear and panic to women who live in isolation in the villages of Kotakethana, Divulgala, Opatha, Niladura and Katange areas of Kahawatte.

Surprisingly this was the 15th woman to be killed in a savage way during the past three years. Although the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and police from the Sabaragamuwa province were able to arrest most suspects linked to the killings, we hear of women being slaughtered every six months or so for some mysterious reasons.

Although the myth that a ghost (Boothya) was responsible for such murders has long been dispelled from the minds of people in the Kahawatte area, such horrible and atrocious killings of women have not ceased.

We may then ask why were these women killed and for what reason. What was the motive behind these dastardly killings of elderly and feeble women living in solitude. The plausible theory that one could attribute at this juncture is to say that the killers had a grandiose plans to grab immovable properties belonging to these victims such as fertile land containing precious gems in the Kahawatte area.

The other reason was that some killers were heavily involved in drug running operations in the Kotakethana area and some of the murdered women knew of their secret operations.

For instance take the case of the mother and daughter, a schoolgirl who lived in Kotakethana. Both were hacked to death as the drug kingpins suspected that they were passing information to the police.

The latest killing comes in the wake of heightened tension and fear in the Kahawatte area where, during the past four years 15 women have been killed by disgruntled persons over property matters and those who harboured personal grudges against them.

However the suspects linked to these killing have been arrested and produced in Court and files related to these crimes have been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Department for indictments to be served on them.

Last week’s murder of a woman at Kotakethana, Warapitiya brought back haunting memories of the brutal murders were committed in the area in recent past.

The murder took place on Wednesday, October 31, around 6 pm when the mother of two was alone in her house.

The killer having entered the house through the front gate had closed it by strategically placing a piece of wood to prevent anyone else entering the house while the woman was being attacked.

The killer had attacked her with a sharp weapon causing severe injuries to her body and thereafter dragged her body out of her home and left it in the compound before fleeing the place.

The victim was later identified as U.D. Chandrawathie (66) of Warapitiya, Kotakethana who had lived in the Kahawatte area for sometime. She lived in her house along with her son.

Both her husband and son were employed in different estates at Kalawana and in the Kahawatte areas. When her son (25) returned home that evening he noticed his mother missing. It was unusual for his mother not be at home at that time of the day.

When he visited her room he found blood stains on the floor and on the walls.

Alarmed on seeing blood stains he began searching for her frantically and found her body lying in the compound in a pool of blood. For a moment he couldn’t believe his own eyes. He then telephoned his close relatives and friends who began flocking to the house.

Later Policemen from the Kotakethana police post arrived at Chandrawathie’s home and despatched her to the Kahawatte Hospital. Doctors who examined her at the hospital pronounced her dead.

They found multiple injuries on her body caused by a sharp weapon. Death was due to shock and haemorrhage, police said.

The Kotakethana police post was set up last year following the killing of 15 women in the villages of Kahawatte.

Despite the setting of the police post to monitor the activities of criminals in the area, the killing of women in the area did not end.

The police post is located only about 1.5 kilometres from the home of U.D. Chandrawathie. Her married daughter lived elsewhere. Police suspect the man who was involved in the killing of two sisters at Kotakethana, Kahawatte a few months ago was involved in this murder too.

The suspect who was in remand for that murder have been enlarged on bail, the Police media spokesman, SSP Prishantha Jayakody said.

It was on May 31 this year that two sisters Setungage Dayawathie (61) and Thilakawathie were hacked to death and their bodies set ablaze by the killer.

Their charred bodies were found on a bed. Ultimately it was a police dog that led the police team to the house of the suspect which led to his arrest.