Did brother kill sister to settle debts?
By Ananda Agalakada
Lokumenike was the youngest in her family. She was a calm and quiet
person who kept to herself. She had a sister and two brothers. Her
parents were poor and struggled to ensure their children's well-being.
They lived in Pulasthipura, a backward area in the Polonnaruwa district.
However, Lokumenike's parents kept the home fires burning and ensured
the children were kept under one roof. They also ensured the four of
them had a reasonably good education.
Later on Lokumenike's sister and brothers married and resided in the
same village. One of her brothers, was 45-year-old Tikiribanda. He
married and had two children. He was attached to his younger sister so
much that he always wanted to be close to her, thus he settled down at a
nearby house and had always said that he would take care of his younger
siblings.
Future
Later Lokumenike married Gunaratne Banda who was a farmer. After
their marriage they became parents to a lovely son. Banda was a hard
working man. He was proud of his beautiful wife and son. He even avoided
keeping company with friends as he thought this will limit his time with
the family.
He valued family life and did everything within his capacity to live
in harmony with his wife and son. Banda never missed having meals with
them on almost everyday.
Unfortunately, Banda's life with his family was short-lived because
he met with an untimely death. He left his young wife and new born
child. After her husband's death, Lokumenike lost the zest for life and
became depressed. She was overcome with grief and lived in despair. She
had nightmares and even decided to end her life. She had attempted to
hang herself.
The only thing that kept her going was her son Sasindu. She strived
hard to ensure a bright future for him. When her husband was alive he
dreamed of giving his son the best. It was 15 years ago that her husband
had passed away and she always remembered every single word he said like
as if it was yesterday. Lokumenike somehow found employment in a garment
factory through a relative from Polonnaruwa. Although she worked hard
and long hours, her salary was poor. It was not enough to manage the
household and provide for the education of her son. So she searched for
a better job and later joined a project in the cultural triangle in
Polonnaruwa as a security officer.
One day Lokumenike visited his elder sister's house in the afternoon
while returning from work. She always brought toys for her sister's
granddaughter, whenever she visited them. She loved the little girl very
much.
On that day, Sumanawathi, Lokumenike's sister had prepared lunch for
her. However, as Lokumenike had some clothes to wash she said she would
go home which was nearby, do the washing and return to have lunch.
However, Lokumenike did not turn up for a long time and her sister
got worried. So she went to Lokumenike's house with the young child.
When they reached the house they saw the doors closed. However, the
sister had an extra key and using that key she entered the house. But
she found the house empty and there was no one in the house.
So, they returned home. As soon as she set foot inside her house,
Sumanawathi had an eerie feeling and a strange sense of foreboding
overcoming her.
She could not sense what it was. It did not take her long to realise
what it was . She found Lokumenike lying in a pool of blood. She just
screamed after seeing the pool of blood.
The neighbours came running towards the house and saw what had
happened. They immediately rushed Lokumenike to the Polonnaruwa hospital
but she had already succumbed to injuries.
Wailing
While Lokumenike was being taken to hospital, Tikiribanda, their
brother met them on the way and expressed dismay and sadness at what had
happened to his sister and even began wailing uncontrollably. The
neighbours then began comforting Tikiribanda and consoling him.
Tikiribanda was a spendthrift and borrowed from every Dick, Tom and
Harry to continue his extravagant lifestyle. He spent his time and money
gambling and on nefarious activities.
Relatives and her son wanted Lokumenike's funeral to be held in
Tikiribanda's house because it was spacious and finally the funeral was
held at Tikiribanda's residence. The police were wary of the incident
and launched an investigation to find out the perpetrators of the crime.
The OIC of Pulasthipura police, IP Vipula Bandara was closely
monitoring the situation as he got information that Tikiribanda may have
been involved in the killing. Neighbours and even his wife were
suspicious of Tikiribanda. Tikiribanda's wife felt that her husband
seemed uncharacteristically nervous on the days following the death of
his sister.
As clues began to emerge that it was Tikiribanda who was responsible
for the dastardly act, he fled the village and went into hiding.
Acting on a tip-off the police arrested him at a restaurant in
Polonnaruwa while he was having liquor. Later the Police found two
letters and a receipt issued by a pawning centre in Polonnaruwa.
The letter was written by Tikiribanda to the police and to his wife
explaining the circumstances that led him to commit the murder of his
sister. In the letter he had also stated that he wanted to commit
suicide as he could nor bear what he had done.
At the time the police arrested him, he had mixed some poison with
the liquor. After his arrest he fell ill and police officers had to rush
him to the Polonnaruwa hospital. Police later found that he had pawned a
gold necklace which belonged to Lokumenike to a pawning centre in
Polonnaruwa.
He had taken loans from villagers and had returned them within a day
with the money he got after pawning Lokumenike's chain. JMO, Polonnaruwa
hospital held the post mortem and revealed that she was strangled to
death.
OIC IP, Vipula Bandara, OIC Crime, SI Lokubanda and a police team
from Pulasthipura police are conducting investigations on the
instructions of ASP, Oshan Hewavitharana and senior DIG Sarath Kumara of
the Polonnaruwa division. |