Cat-and-dog life ends in murder

The husband and wife had been married for nearly 21 years and they lived in a hamlet called Manikkadawara in the Dedigama area with their three children. He was 55 years old and his spouse was only 35 years old. The couple had led a cat and dog life over the years.

The husband was a drunkard who always quarrelled with his wife over trivial matters. He worked in a rubber plantation in Avissawella. Every fortnight or so he came home punch drunk to see his wife and children and quarrelled with her. There was trouble whenever he was at home due to his excessive drinking habits.

The couple had three children, a boy and two daughters. But tragedy struck the family early following the death of their only son. The son was disgruntled over family feuds and ended up his life by committing suicide.

He swallowed poison seeds as he could not face the realities in life. Their second daughter having married early in life lived elsewhere in the village with her husband. Only their youngest daughter, a school going, grade 10 student lived with them at Manikkadawara. Both the husband and wife were poor labourers who eked out a living by tapping rubber trees.

According to the police, on June 26 the husband returned home drunk staggering and started an argument with his wife over some issue that flared up into a major row. His wife too was a ruthless and a paranoid woman always determined to seek revenge from her husband. She hated the sight of her husband who often abused her in obscene language for flimsy things.

The wife who could not bear the torment of insults of her husband decided to teach him a lesson. She hatched a deadly plot to kill her husband. She meticulously executed the plot when her husband fell asleep having drunk too much. She held a pillow tightly over his nose and held it for a while for him to suffocate to death.

However due to tremendous pressure being exerted on the pillow it burst and strands of cloth fell on the bed. She then grabbed a piece of cloth, tied it around his neck and held it tightly until his breath stopped.

Finally when she realised he was dead, she dragged his body to a nearby room and locked it up before her daughter arrived from school.

That night her daughter was anxious to watch a program on the television but she discouraged her and both mother and the daughter slept early that night, the police said.

It was around 9.00 pm when the mother woke up and stealthily tip -toed in to the room where the corpse lay. She then removed the clothes from the corpse and dragged the naked body towards the well situated behind her home. There was moonlight and she observed the moon pushing through the clouds while dragging the body.

On hearing the rustling sound near the well the dog in the neighbour’s house barked loudly that alerted the neighbours. Sensing something suspicious, they woke up and looked in the direction of the well.

To avoid being seen near the well, the suspect woman hid herself behind a bush until the neighbours went back to sleep. She then tied two big stones on the corpse and dumped it inside the well.

Meanwhile, the employer of the rubber plantation at Avissawella had been looking for Somaratne who suddenly disappeared even without a trace. He rang up a neighbour of Somaratne and made inquires about him. But the neighbour too was clueless.

Later when the neighbour inquired from the wife of Somaratne she hinted that he may have gone to witness a Perahera in the Kegalle area. Meanwhile the dead man’s son-in-law travelled to Avissawella in search of his father-in-law. As he could not be traced he returned to the village disappointed.

In the meantime his mother- in- law rung him up and confessed that she had killed her husband. It was on June 26 around 7.00 p.m. when the son-in-law lodged a complaint at the Dedigama police about the missing man.

OIC, Dedigama police station Chief Inspector Muthubanda Ekanayake and a police party accompanied by the son-in-law visited the missing man’s home.

At Somaratne’s home the police party found a nauseating stench emanating from the direction of the well. When they went near the well they found it covered with coconut husks.

But when they removed the coconut husks and searched the well they found the highly decomposed body of Somaratne inside the well.

When the police questioned Somaratne’s wife as to how a corpse was found in the well, she confessed to the police about the murder. Police arrested her and the suspect woman was produced before court. She was later remanded pending further investigations.