The cause of death of the 3-year-old girl in Mattegoda was the assaults by her mother's paramour for not calling him father.

The Mattegoda Police have arrested the mother of a three-year-old girl in connection with the tragic death of the child, who resided in the Samagi Mawatha area of Magammana, Mattegoda, after being cruelly beaten. The mother had admitted the girl to Homagama Hospital, claiming she had an allergic reaction, where the girl subsequently passed away.

However, the subsequent post-mortem examination confirmed that this was not merely a medical condition, but a murder caused by an inhumane beating.

According to police investigations, the main reason for this crime was the girl's refusal to address her mother's new illicit partner as 'father'. The arrested woman had been living in the same house with a taxi driver for about three months, maintaining a close relationship, after separating from her legal husband. During this period, strong evidence, including photographs, has already been received by the police, indicating that both the mother and the said individual jointly subjected the little girl to various forms of torture.

Examinations of the deceased girl's body revealed that doctors identified over seventy-five internal and external injuries. Police investigations further revealed that during the assaults, the mother had inhumanely shaken the girl and thrown her to the ground, and in addition, had severely beaten her with hands, feet, and various other instruments.

The mother's illicit partner, the other main suspect directly involved in this brutal murder, has already fled the area and is in hiding. A special police team, including Mattegoda Police Station OIC, Police Inspector Indika Kumara, has already launched a wide-ranging operation to swiftly apprehend him.