Lankan-born woman's death - Sydney police look for clues
Sydney police is conducting further investigations into the death of
Sri Lankan-born IT graduate Amesha Rajapakse, who was found dead in a
Creek in Westmead, is said to be the “nicest laid back person ever
without a worry in the world”.
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Sahan
Rajapakse, the brother of drowned woman Amesha Rajapakse, falls
to his knees in despair as police give him the tragic news that
his younger sister is dead. |
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Investigators
and police officers at the apartment block in Westmead.
Pix: Courtesy Daily Telegraph |
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Amesha’s
father talks to police at the scene. |
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Sahan
Rajapakse and his father (centre) with family members |
The 31-year-old woman of Sri Lankan origin was found dead in a
Western Sydney creek at Westmead on Tuesday night.
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Distraught Sahan Rajapakse,
the brother of Amesha Rajapakse, and his father talk to the
media on arrival at the scene. |
Police said her death was puzzling because of where her body was
found but said there were no marks or obvious signs of injury on her
body. “The location she was found was puzzling; it was hard to get to,”
a homicide detective said. “But we really don’t know one way or the
other,” he added.
Investigators have seized footage from CCTV cameras. The complex has
put on extra security patrols with the hundreds of residents, especially
women in fear after the grisly discovery.
Amesha’s death is being investigated by a newly-formed police strike
force, Strike Force Mandaring, which is trying to piece together her
last movements.
A woman appeared agitated and concerned as she left the foyer of a
Sydney unit block just 12 hours before her body was found in a Sydney
creek on Wednesday morning.
Homicide detectives and local police are trying to establish whether
Amesha Rajapakse’s death is suspicious after the 31-year-old’s body was
found in water behind a set of Westmead unit blocks.
Building manager Tom Hailey said security footage captured the woman
pacing back and forth in the foyer of a building inside Monarco Estate
about 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday.
“It looked like she was concerned about something; she appeared
agitated. She kept going from back to the front of the foyer,” Hailey
said. He added that residents told him they heard a “blood-curdling
scream” about 6.30 a.m. on Wednesday just before police arrived at the
Bridge Road unit block.
A man at the scene cried, “Please, please let me see her face”, a
short time after Amesha’s body was found. Wearing muddied shoes, he fell
to his knees as he hugged relatives in heavy rain.
Officers were seen searching the man’s pockets before he got into a
police car and was driven from the estate along with another distressed
man.
Hailey said relatives of Amesha had spent the previous night
searching for her after she failed to return home to her seventh-floor
unit. Up to 40 police, including divers and public order and riot squad
officers, spent much of the day scouring the muddied creek and searching
the grounds of the unit complex.
Police said they would not be able to determine what caused Amesha’s
death until they received initial autopsy. They are appealing for anyone
with further information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Amesha’s brother, Sahan Rajapakse said his sister had gone out to buy
food around 7.30 p.m. but never returned. The pair lived at the Absolute
Waterfront Apartments Monarco Westmead with their father. Amesha was
last seen pacing the foyer of her unit block looking agitated and using
a thin scarf to keep the secured door open as she came in and out.
She was reportedly found with a scarf around her neck in a swollen
creek in a hard-to-get to area on the other side of a large wall. Shehan
said he called Amesha on her mobile phone from work on Tuesday but their
father answered.
“I ask where Amesha is, he (my father) said she still not come. He
said he would tell my sister that I called. Then I did not get a call so
I called in an hour,” he said.
“That day (Tuesday) I called on her mobile (which her father
answered). She went to get milk and butter. I said that’s fine use the
gift cards.” He said the last conversation he had with her was on Monday
was “nothing special”.
“She’s my little sister the day before Monday I bought some takeaway
food (for her),” he said. “She is the cleverest. She got a lot of
achievements. Her whole world was her family and close relatives.”
Amesha had migrated to Australia in 2009 and was an IT graduate. She
was unmarried. Police were awaiting a post-mortem report to determine if
her death was suspicious.
The victim’s family members were interviewed at Parramatta police
station in the hope of providing vital clues. They were too upset to
comment as they left the station.
One staff member at the unit block said Amesha’s brother was a
“complete mess”. He said police were knocking on almost every door of
the 500-unit block, and half a dozen detectives and more than 20
uniformed officers remained at the scene at 6pm.
They will continue to canvass the area today. According to the
building manager, Amesha had left the complex at 7.30pm on Tuesday. “All
I can take from that is she didn’t have her access card,” a staff member
said.
It is not known if it was the same scarf found around her neck. The
31-year-old woman had inquired only two weeks ago about access to the
gym and swimming pool of the up-market block, which has two-bedroom
units renting for more than Australian dollars 1,000 a week. “She was
the nicest, most laid-back person ever,” the staff member said. “She
didn’t seem to have a worry in the world.”
With police unable to confirm if the death was suspicious, the female
residents of the unit block were terrified. “A lot of women are
extremely concerned,” the staff member said.
After heavy rain the creek was running high and police working on the
scene were up to their waists in water. |