RUSSIAN NATIONAL COMMITS SUICIDE IN GUESTHOUSE

Russian without money commits suicide
One of our own people had promised a land and sold a cemetery

  An incident has been reported of a Russian who had come to Sri Lanka sometime back as having committed suicide. Though it was not possible to ascertain the cause why he suddenly died, it was later reported that he was utterly helpless and had decided to commit suicide with no money in hand; having been cheated by a Ceylonese.

  According to reports, the 35 year old Russian national Konkin Anton had bought a piece of land in Tangalla last year for 60 lakhs. His only hope had been to construct a guesthouse in the land he had bought. It was only later that he realised that such a construction was not possible there. Everything had come to an end when he found out that it was a State-owned cemetery and that he had been deceived by one of the biggest liars in the country. He had complained to the police and filed legal action and then followed it up by litigation subsequent to cornering the crook.

  Although the man who cheated admitted the fraud and agreed to pay back the money in instalments, he had paid only 10 lakhs and after that backed out. In the process the Russian had gone back to his country and later returned to Sri Lanka with the hope of recovering the balance monies due to him.

  When he found that the crook had backed out, he consulted the lawyers to find out whether anything could be done to solve the problem; but the reply had not been that favourable. They had said that within the framework of the Sri Lankan law, it was only that far he could go. The Russian was thoroughly depressed over what happened to him in Sri Lanka. He who had come to this country once again has hardly had sufficient money even for his expenditure. Plans of earning an income by starting a guesthouse in Sri Lanka had gone in the drain and the money he had to spend in Sri Lanka too was slowly ebbing away. After contemplating as to what he could do, he sent messages to his wife in Russia to come to Sri Lanka and take him home. He began to wait for her but the money in his pocket was fast dwindling and was in great distress.

  It was during this time that Anton who was without a cent with him had got into a three-wheeler of a person by the name of Sriyananda to go to Keena Guesthouse in Minuwangoda.

  The experience that Sriyananda underwent after taking Anton to Keena Hotel is as follows:
                   "It was about 8.30 in the morning on the 31st. This man asked me to take him to Keena Hotel. He didn't have money. He said that the next day morning his wife was coming from abroad and then he would pay me. He had stayed at the Hotel for 1 day and after that had gone to the airport. That day the Hotel owner phoned me and said 'this man has no money ..... take him back'. When I came and spoke to the man, he said that he has a SIM card and whether he could use my phone by using that SIM. After sometime the money in the SIM finished. Then I offered my phone to continue the call from my phone.

  Later, at about 10 in the morning he said that he wants to go to Commercial Bank. I saw him withdrawing 5,000 rupees. But he told me he withdrew 3,000 rupees.

  After that we went to the Hotel and he paid 3,000 rupees. They then agreed to keep him in the Hotel. But he said that he'd stay in the corridor. I said, 'tomorrow you're paying the money no ..... so stay in the Hotel'. So saying I went and put him in the room.

  I happened to meet him early in the morning; he was loitering near the airport. Then he asked me five 5 rupee coins and he bought a cigarette. I told him that I'd give him money for a soft drink. But he didn't like it. He was so innocent ..... he didn't like to eat or drink from anybody. At about 2 o'clock the Hotel phoned me and said that that the Russian's wife had come and is calling to go somewhere. It was at that moment when I went to call him that I saw that he had hanged himself in the bathroom. We couldn't understand why he did a thing like this".

  Chief Police Inspector Kamal Siriwardena of Katunayaka expressed his ideas about this incident thus:
                                      "Konkin Anton is a Russian national, 35 years of age. This person had come to Keena Guesthouse in Minuwangoda, Katunayaka to lodge there. He had told the guesthouse owner at least to allow him to stay in the corridor. After that he was given Room No.4. On the 2nd, he had hanged himself,using a belt used to tie round the was and was dead in the bathroom".