Paramour kills estate woman over suspicion

The killing of a 37-year-old woman in the Upper Balangoda estate allegedly by her jealous lover was on everybody's lips in the estate and the town last week following the arrest of the suspect who took refuge in the sprawling estate. The victim was a mother of four children who eked out a living by working as a labourer in the same estate.

What shocked people in a relatively peaceful up country area was the manner in which she had been killed. She had been killed while she was asleep in the wee hours of October 22. When the killing was reported to the Balangoda police on October 22, a police party led by Chief Inspector Ranjith Dassanayake and OIC Crimes Inspector Shelton Uduwakage and Police Sergeant Ranjith Premawanse visited Parameshwari's house and found her body lying in a pool of blood in a room. However, the police were baffled initially as the perpetrator of the crime had fled from the scene leaving several vital clues behind.

The victim was later identified by her mother as S. Parameshwari, her daughter, a mother of three children. Although the youngest nine months old baby girl lived with her other grown up children, a boy aged 12 years and a girl aged eight years lived elsewhere with Parameshwari's mother in the same estate. It was revealed that Parameshwari's husband had committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the estate some time ago. However, following the killing of Parameshwari, the Balangoda police are further investigating the suspicious circumstances that led to her husband's suicide.

Husband

Parameshwari who worked as a labourer at the Upper Balangoda tea estate met her husband there. They fell in love with each other and married almost 13 years ago. Thereafter Parameshwari gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl over the years. It is unclear why her husband committed suicide. But it was widely rumoured that he committed suicide when he learnt that his wife was having a clandestine affair with another man in the same estate. However, after the death of her husband Parameshwari's paramour came to live with her. Her two children went to live with their grandmother whose house was close by. After some time Parameshwari gave birth to a daughter. However, her paramour suspected that she was carrying on with another man in the estate. It was presumed that Parameshwari met another man when she went to work as a domestic aid in a house at Balangoda town. As a result her paramour bore a grudge against her and there were constant quarrels at home which made life miserable for them. He suspected that while he was at work in tea estate she often slept with her second lover. He had admonished her to give up the affair but she had not listened to him. Despite repeated warnings she continued to pursue her affair. “She did not marry her paramour after the death of her husband and may have thought that she could do whatever she wanted to do,” police said.

Coconut scraper

However, when things came to a boiling point her paramour decided to get rid of her. He decided last week to kill her by slitting her throat with a razor. On October 22 he had dinner with Parameshwari and went to bed early. Around 4 a.m. he woke up early to prepare some tea and saw Parameshwari still asleep. He then stealthily tip-toed into the kitchen, picked up a coconut scraper and came into the room where she was sleeping. He raised the coconut scraper above his head and dealt a forceful blow on her head.

The force of the blow cracked her head which made her unconscious. He then repeatedly beat her head with the coconut scraper and plunged the instrument below her naval critically injuring her.

The enraged man then pulled out a razor and slit her throat. The assassin then hurriedly grabbed the nine month old infant from a cot and carried her quickly to her grandmother's home before anybody could see him.

Having arrived at grandmother's home with the baby he tapped on the door several times before she opened it. After handing over the baby he told her that he had a bitter quarrel with Parameshwari and quickly walked out of the house.

The grandmother sensing that something might have happened to her daughter alerted other members of her household who rushed to Parameshwari's house.

They found her lying in a pool of blood. Balangoda police officers who visited the house found Parameshawari's dead body.

Later the Acting Magistrate Balangoda Deshabandu Suriya Patabendi visited the scene of the crime and instructed the Judicial Medical Officer of Ratnapura to conduct the autopsy. Police learnt that Parameshwari's paramour had allegedly committed the crime.

The suspect who was absconding was later found taking refuge in the tea estate. Police also recovered the razor and the coconut scraper used in the killing on a statement by the suspect.

The suspect was later produced before the Balangoda Magistrate and was remanded until investigations are concluded.