Dirty sinner of Giribave who raped and killed schoolgirl ... taken away with his sarong on

Dirty sinner of Giribave who raped and killed schoolgirl ... taken away with his sarong on

A schoolgirl aged 17 years at Saliya Ashokapura, Yaya 2, Giribava was raped and murdered at a time she was staying all alone in the house and the culprit was a 31 year old Saman Karunatilleka living in a neighbouring house. After he was taken into custody by police he was ordered to be remanded for 10 days by Galgamuwa Magistrate Mr. L.T. Warusavithna yesterday.

When this girl was watching television day-before-yesterday afternoon the person has come to her

house and had tapped on the door and since he was someone known to them she has had no suspicion about him. He had strategically engaged in a talk with her and had entered the house by hoodwinking her. Knowing that nobody was at home, he had proposed getting intimate with her as husband and wife and because she had rejected his advances he had her hands and legs tied up with pieces of cloth and was taken to a room in the house and abused, the police found. Later, fearing that his offence would be found out, he had taken action to strangle her and kill her.

At the time she was at home, her father was away at his work-place while the mother was engaged in work at a house closeby, it is understood. When the mother had come home to have her lunch around 12 o'clock in the afternoon her suspicions were aroused when she noticed doors of the house being thrown open and the daughter's underwear thrown all over. Searching for her daughter she had gone into the room and what met her eyes was the astounding scene of her daughter's hands and legs being tied up lying on a bed, murdered. The incident was notified to the police.

The suspect who was arrested on suspicion had jumped into a bus plying down the road near the house in the afternoon that day in a big hurry and the bus-conducter had sensed something unusual about his movements. When he had wanted to inquire about it the said person had fled in a mighty hurry. After informing a groupo of three-wheeler drivers in Paaluwewa area, it was possible to apprehend him. Initially though it was not possible to detect that the reason for fleeing in this manner may be an instance of rape or homicide, when news about this incident happened to circulate around the area, a clue was received about the suspect.

The 31 year old Harshana Saman Karunathilaka living at the address of Sali Ashokapura, Giribave was suspected to be the criminal. Both hands of the girl who was lying on bed were tied with pieces of cloth and there were abraisions at several places on her body and a strong bite-mark on the deceased's upper lip, police said. Apart from that, over 300 obseene scenes were detected in the suspect's mobile phone, Girbava Police say.

The dead body of the schoolgirl was taken to Judicial Medical Officer of Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital for further investigation matters. The suspect has been remanded till 4th next month.