THREE MYSTERIOUS DEATHS AT EPPAWALA

Mysterious deaths of two young girls and a 27 year old male

In the Eppawela,Kadigawa village in a huge ‘Margosa’ tree three persons, two young girls and a man were seen dead by hanging at a distance of nearly 50 feet from ground level. The villagers were astonished and bewildered on seen this very unusual scene last Saturday.
How did the deaths take place?. For what reason?. This had made the villagers dumbfounded.
The elder girl , Dilshani was 17 years old , school going and was to sit for the GCE O Level exam today the 12th.The younger sister was Gangani just 15 years old also school going.
According to reports both sisters were forced to face situations not in conformity to their teenage ages. The third person who was also found dead was a 27 year old, Ruwan Premaratna, a former Army Commando who has had marital relationships with both sisters.
In the year 2008, the elder sister Dilshani, then only 14 years old had eloped with Ruwan, then only 24 years old and left the village it is reported. The mother of Dilshani had made a complaint to the Police and had promised to resolve this matter when she reaches her marriageable age. The conflict was resolved in that manner. It is learnt that Ruwan is a very fierce person and she had to give in and there was no compromise with him. The mother by name ,’Kawamma’ a 44 year old woman who had to support the two daughters and a younger son and hence to meet family expenses had to toil hard working in a nearby ‘mill’.
Ruwan made random visits to the house to meet Dilshani. During such a visit had even gone to the extent of raping the younger sister of Dilshani. This news was unbearable to ‘Kawamma’ She had no alternative but to lodge an entry in the Police Station. As both daughters were attracted to Ruwan they never objected to the views of their mother and also never retaliated to Ruwan’s reactions.
As ‘Kawamma’ could not bear these happenings she left the house and dwelled in a relative’s house nearby. On one day when she came to visit the daughters she has advised Ruwan to stop harassing her daughters. Ruwan had retaliated and squeezed her neck and had threatened to kill her. After this incident ’Kawamma’ had once more had lodged a complaint in the Police Station. When the police officers came in search of Ruwan he had evaded them and fled away. It is learnt that the younger daughter had told the mother as Ruwan has not stopped his drinking not to make complaints to the Police Station.
It was after this that the mother had seen the three been seen hung about 50 feet from ground level in the huge ‘Margosa’ tree. She had said the younger girl is competent in climbing trees and not the elder girl. It was her opinion that Ruwan may have killed them and then hung them on the tree. However the Post Mortem had revealed otherwise that they all had died by hanging. It remains a mystery as to how these girls were hung at such a height in the ‘Margosa’ tree. The Police when conducting investigations had found at the root of the tree some beetles, a sarong, a piece of cloth, 3 pairs of slippers, a mat, An alarm clock, a box of matches, an aerated water bottle, an empty packet of cigarettes.
To find the cause of these mysterious deaths, a team of Police officers have been assigned to investigate.

The photographs shown were taken by Bhagya Wickremasinghe,