Benefit of the doubt for the defense: Death row inmate returns home on appeal.

The Court of Appeal has decided to acquit and release a defendant who was sentenced to death for the murder of a woman who ran a shrine and her nephew, on charges of bewitching a neighboring woman and killing her by snakebite. The death penalty imposed by the Gampaha High Court in connection with this double murder, which occurred thirty years ago, was thus overturned after considering an appeal petition filed by the defendant.

This decision was announced by a bench of judges comprising Court of Appeal Judges P. Kumaran Rathnam and Pradeep Hettiarachchi. The petition was filed by the defendant, Vipula Hemakumara, a resident of Gampaha, against the sentence imposed on him, with the Attorney General named as the respondent.

Examining the background of this incident, Don Rosaline Nona and Don Wimala Ranjith were murdered on September 21, 1995, in the Nittambuwa area of Gampaha. The prosecution stated that the deceased woman had run a shrine, and the suspicion that a neighbor had died due to a ritual performed by her was the root cause of this murder. Following a lengthy trial in this regard, the Gampaha High Court found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to death.

However, during the hearing of the appeal petition, serious inconsistencies and weaknesses in the prosecution's evidence drew the strong attention of the bench of judges. Although prosecution witnesses stated that an electric bulb was lit in a house near the shrine on the night of the incident, the testimony of the police officers who conducted the investigation was entirely different. The police officers had told the court that there was no electric bulb at the location, and only electrical wires were visible.

In light of this critical evidentiary inconsistency, the bench of judges emphasized that since the presence of light at the scene of the incident could not be confirmed, the benefit of reasonable doubt arising from it should be given to the defendant. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal ordered the immediate acquittal and release of the defendant from all relevant charges. During this appeal hearing, President's Counsel Shavendra Fernando appeared for the defendant, and State Counsel Tharaka Kodagoda appeared for the Attorney General.