Supreme Court upholds death sentences on four accused in Vidya murder
May 6, 2026 02:40 pm
The Supreme Court today (06) confirmed the death sentences imposed by the High Court Trial-at-Bar on four accused, including ‘Swiss Kumar’, in the abduction, gang rape and murder of 18-year-old schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vidya in the Jaffna District in 2015.
The verdict was delivered by a five-member judge bench headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena after dismissing the appeals filed by the accused seeking their acquittal.
However, the court also ordered the acquittal of two other accused in the case.
At the time the order was delivered, three of the accused who had been sentenced to death were produced before the Supreme Court, with their appearance facilitated through Zoom technology.
The Attorney General had filed indictments against ‘Swiss Kumar’ and a group of defendants before a three-judge bench of the Jaffna High Court on the charge of the abduction, gang rape and murder of Vidya while she was returning from school in the Punkuduthivu area on May 13, 2015.
In 2017, the Trial-at-Bar of the Jaffna High Court sentenced seven accused to death after finding them guilty in the case.
The appeals before the Supreme Court were filed seeking acquittal and release from that sentence.
However, one of the accused had passed away during the period of the hearing of the appeals.
