"It was because of police that I made a false confession" -- fresh confession of husband who murdered Ratmalana wife and 2 children

 "It was because of police that I made a false confession" -- fresh confession of husband who murdered Ratmalana wife and 2 children

"It was because of police that I made a false confession" -- fresh confession of husband who murdered Ratmalana wife and 2 children

In the year 2012 an incident of a husband murdering his wife and 2 children while on bed and set fire to their bodies in their Ratmalana house creating a sensation within the media. The prime suspect in the murder was one administrative officer by the name of Vimukthi Madhuranga de Silva. Though he admitted having committed the triple murder and had made the confession at the start, he now says that he is not responsible for the crime.

It was Sachthana Sandamali, the mother, a 31 year old teacher at Princess of Wales College, Moratuwa and the 3 year old Prabath Banuka and a month old Krishantha Sandaruwan, the two sons
were those who died in the incident. The suspect had confessed that both wife and elder son were throttled and that the small child was thrown into the raging flames. The suspect had admitted that he had an association with another young girl and because he was adamant in getting married to her he had arrived at the decision of finishing off his family including the children during the process of continuous interrogation. The suspect had also admitted that after the killings he had left for his room after placing his wife's dead body to give the impression that she had been breast-feeding her baby at that moment and had subsequently prepared the two bodies and after keeping the mosquito net had then lit a candle nearby and after extinguishing its flame had kept it near the mattress. After all those processes he had spilt his wife's bottle of perfume on the mosquito net and set fire and lastly had closed the door and retreated to his room upstairs.

After the said incident, the lover with whom he had maintained a romance was summoned to court and the mother of the suspect who is supposed to have adopted him happened to give evidence against the suspect. Media announcements were released to the effect that he longer is in service at the leading garment factory where he did serve.

Though he was imprisoned for a period of time after the incident, court has taken steps to release the suspect on bail. Whatever it is, what he now says regarding the incident is a totally contradictory story, which is that he had confessed to the murder of his wife and 2 children because of compulsion by police. The respondent Madhura Manaranga de Silva says that he made a confession that he killed his wife and cute two children by setting them on fire as he was forced to by the officer-in-charge of Galkissa police and other officers and had even threatened him to make that confession. This  he said by giving evidence before Colombo High Court judge, Mr. Vikum Kaluaarachchi. When the lady-magistrate on that day questioned him whether that confession was made because of some influence or threat, though he said that he does so on his own and voluntarily; he says that it was all false. The respondent who said that though it was mentioned in his affidavit that his wife has an illicit romance, the respondent who mentioned on that occasion that it was false, having read the affidavit prepared by his attorney-at-law Mr. Jaliya Samarasingha had accepted that it was the truth and had placed the signature there. This he said by responding to questions posed by deputy solicitor general  Mr. Dileepa Peiris who appeared for the prosecution.

As the respondent has not not mentioned at Colombo High Court that the confession he made at Galkissa Magistrate Court was not made voluntarily in relation to this murder, in order to ascertain whether it was a voluntarily made confession or not, the respondent had stated so at the veyada examination held in the presence of Colombo High Court judge Mr. Vikum Kaluaarachchi.

On that occasion deputy solicitor general Mr. Dileep Peiris who directed proceedings on behalf of attorney general further replied in the following manner responding to cross-examination of Mr. Peiris:  "This incident took place on December 17th, 2012. When I was detained after Galkissa police arrested me and was interrogated, I came to now of an exceedingly personal matter concerning my life. I was under the impression that I was the only child in the family. But it was revealed that I was an adopted child. That brought me a great shock. After that incident, the police and the media had turned me into a criminal. Till over a month elapsed since I was imprisoned,  my mother who adopted me or others never visited me. There was no way in which I could get down any clothes as such either.

At the time I made my confession to the lady magistrate, no injustice was done to me. The injustice done to me in fact was neglecting permission I asked for to make a secret confession to rectify that earlier confession.

D.S.G: You had informed through an affidavit that the learned lady magistrate has done injustice by treating this matter dishonestly. In reality was any injustice done to you by court?

Witness: No.

D.S.G: Why then did you include the point that the learned lady magistrate did injustice to you in a dishonest manner?

Witness: It was the attorney-at-law who prepared it from the points I gave him.

D.S.G: You said that police beat you with a cricket pole and made you to sleep. Why were those points not included in detail in the affidavit?

Witness: It is the attorney-at-law who prepared it.

D.S.G: Had you included the name of the lover in that affidavit, with whom you had illicit relations?

Witness: No. There was Rs. 30 lakhs in two of my fixed accounts. As I did not have money to pay  the lawyers I took steps to transfer those accounts in my mother's name and withdraw money.

Court finished hearing of the case and instructed both parties to file written documents in relation to the witness inquiry of the case.
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