UPDATE: 8-year-old molested, killed in Pinnaduwa

UPDATE: The key suspect in Pinnaduwa eight-year-old child’s murder case drowned in Madola tributary while trying to flee from police custody, a short while ago, sources from the police said.  

The police have found a dead body of an eight-year-old child in a tea estate in Madola, Pinnaduwa area, early hours of this morning.

The police believe that the child was molested or raped before her death. The body was found at the tea estate in Katupolwatta, a few meters close to her house, by a policemen team attached the Akmeemana police.

“We suspect that the child was killed by strangulation. Her body has been sent to the Akmeemana Base hospital for the post-mortem,” a police officer said.

The police, based on the preliminary level investigations, have apprehended two suspects aged 24 and 27-years in connect to the incident. 

“The suspects have been identified as two individuals from the same area. A police dog helps in the arrest of the suspects. The assailants will be produced in the Galle Magistrate’s Court,” the officer added.

The child is said to have raped and killed by one of a suspect after abducting her from her house in Madola area in Pinnaduwa, while the parents were away. The search operation was initiated after the parents have lodged a complaint with the police about their missing child, last night.