Father and 10 Family Members Sentenced to Death for Hacking Daughter's Boyfriend to Death

 Ten members of the same family, including a father enraged by the disregard of his warnings to end a love affair with his daughter, were sentenced to death yesterday by Embilipitiya Pre-eminent High Court Judge Buddhika C. Ragala. Ten individuals, including three women convicted of hacking and killing a young man named Weerasinghe Arachchilage Warna Dhammika Nayanakumara, and the father of the deceased's girlfriend, were thus sentenced to death.

The deceased young man had gone to his girlfriend's house in the Mullagasyaya area of Embilipitiya on or around October 10, 2011, to meet her. Although the first accused had previously strongly warned the deceased to end the love affair, it was revealed in court that when he disregarded the warning and went to the house, the first accused apprehended him.

Evidence confirmed that the other nine accused, who then became active, jointly carried out this inhumane murder by assaulting him with sharp weapons and by hand and foot.

The Attorney General had filed this case against twelve defendants under three indictments, including being members of an unlawful assembly and murder. After a lengthy trial, the High Court Judge, in delivering the verdict, pointed out that the prosecution had proven all charges filed against the ten relevant defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, the judge ordered the acquittal and release of two other family members, named as the tenth and eleventh defendants in the case, as the prosecution failed to substantiate the charges against them. It was also mentioned that one of these defendants had evaded court for a long time before surrendering, and the prosecution on behalf of the Attorney General was led by Senior State Counsel Mahen de Silva.