Saman Jayalath, the main suspect in the rape and murder of five-year-old Seya Sadewmi in Kotadeniyawa, has been sentenced to death by the Negombo High Court.
Delivering the verdict in the high-profile criminal case today (15), Negombo High Court Judge Champa Janaki Rajaratne gave the death sentence to the chief suspect.
Seya Sadewmi was found sexually abused and strangled to death on September 13, 2015 while she was reported missing from her home at Kotadeniyawa in Divulapitiya the previous day.
Kotadeniyawa Police had launched an investigation into the murder, however it was later handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), amidst public outcry.
Two suspects including the 17-year-old schoolboy were initially taken into custody and later released in connection with incident.
Later a suspect by the name of Dunesh Priyashantha alias ‘Kondeya’ was arrested over the murder, however his DNA did not match the DNA found on the victim.
On October 03, 2015 police arrested Kondaya’s brother, Saman Jayalath, while a report prepared by the Genetech Molecular Diagnostics Research Institute (GMDRI) confirmed that his DNA was a match with that found on the victim.
He later confessed to the murder. The suspect had been in remand custody since his arrest.
