Suspicion leads to killing:

Woman's life snuffed out in her prime

By Ananda Agalakada

Just as many women have done before her, poverty drove Tikirimenike to seek a job in the Middle East as a housemaid. Tikirimenike and the family did not have a roof over their heads. They often went hungry and bore their lot with patience , hoping there would be a silver lining at the end of the tunnel. Many were the nights when the family went to bed on empty stomachs. Tikirimanike decided that the only thing left for her was to seek greener pastures and so she applied through an agency and left for the Middle East. However, her story did not end there.

She spent 15 long years in the scorching desert heat to save for the future well being of her family.

Two years ago, Tikirimenike returned home after calling it a day, to see her husband and two children after a long unbroken spell of fifteen years. The moment she saw them tears began streaming down her face. She hugged them and they did the same.. Her husband and children welcomed her with immense pleasure and there was celebration all round. Her children could not hide their happines when they saw her. However, this beautiful story took a different turn in a short while This is the story what happened to Tikirimenike ultimately after two years of her return.

The family reunion after 15 years was an emotional one.

The magisterial inquiry on the death of T.M. Tikirimanike

The family hugged, laughed and shared their past experiences. T.M. Thkirimanike, 51, was an unsophisticated village lass. Her husband was T.P.Keerthiratne, 52 and they were parents of a son and daughter. They resided in Gokarella.

Tikirimanike was not an educated woman and stopped schooling at a tender age and married early because her family was poor and had no means of existence. Being a rather concerned woman she was wondering how to live with this burden.

She was never discouraged in the face of hardship and faced the monotonous daily chores at home with trepidation. She was looking at ways and means to improve her quality of life and that of her husband and two children.

Tikirimenike had sleepless nights thinking of her son and daughter. As the days passed, many problems overtook her and she felt the dire need for money. This ended up in her landing in the Middle East- the gold mine for job-seekers.

Keerthiratne allowed his wife to proceed to the Middle East as he knew that he too did not have the means of looking after his wife and children. He realised that with only his earnings he could not nurture his family and he decided that the only option was for his wife to go to the Middle East earn some hard cash and improve their quality of life.

Time had flown, Tikirimenike was now slogging in the Middle East. She would be a good house maid to her employer where she worked for a wealthy family.

She kept touch with her husband and children but had no plans to return home for many years as she wanted to collect enough money to build a house and give a decent education to her children.

Afer saving enough she called it a day and wanted to return to Sri Lanka. Tikirimenike had returned home from abroad two years ago. She thanked her husband for taking care of the children during her absence. Her children were the apple of her eye. She missed them like mad while she was abroad.Meanwhile, Keerthiratne was entertaining other thoughts. he thought that his wife was having an illicit affair with some man and that was the reason she had not reurned to even see her children for such a long time.

These evil thoughts were taking the better of him. He did not want to even think of all the good things that Tikirimenike had done while she was abroad.

Meanwhile Tikirimenike had built a new house for her and two children. Keerthiratne now lived all alone in the former house which belonged to him. They had decided to live separately.

Sometimes even when Tikirimenike needed his help, he did not back out and helped her. In this backdrop both parents strove to arrange a marriage for their daughter.

Time was fleeting pat and now it was two years since the return of his wife and lived for two years separately. Keerthiratne concealed some thing in his mind. Keerthiratne had of late suspected his wife of having an illicit affair.

Tikirimenike was wondering what had happened to her beloved husband. She for hours at times, tried to figure out his behaviour. Keerthiratne had suddenly turned out to be quiet and unresponsive.

Tikirimenike imagined that it may be the result of suspiction her with illicit affair that had brought about the change in a husband.

Tikirimenike always tried to maintain the peace among the family.

The peaceful family life which already broken had gradually got worse with daily brawls becoming the order of the day. Unfounded suspicion in his mind kept brewing and he constantly kept assaulting his wife for no rhyme or reason. With the result that both of them had lodged many complaints against one another at the Gokarella police.

On that fateful day, the darkness creptaround the Gokerella village. Tikirimenike was ehausted after a hard days work and had slowly walked towards the tap to take a bath . The ta was was situated at the rear of the house.

Keerthiratne stealthily followed her unknown to anyone and hacked her with a knife. He saw his wife’s lifeless body and would have been shocked. he had returned to his house and may have decided to end his life. their 30-year-old son informed the Gokerella police about the gruesome incident after he found his mother’s lifeless body.

The police rushed to the scene and began looking for the suspect who may have commited this dastardly act.

The police officers left to Keerthiratnes’s house. They saw his body hanging from the beam in his old house.

They suspected that Keerthiratne had committed suicide after killing his wife.

Crime OIC Thilakaratne and a police team are conducting further investigations on the instructions of OIC IP Rohana Wanigasekera of the Gokerella police.