Police officer arrested over housemaid’s custodial death remanded

The police officer arrested in connection with the custodial death of a housemaid named R. Rajakumari has been placed behind bars on remand until September 11, on the orders of Colombo Magistrate’s Court.

The Sub-Inspector attached to Welikada Police, who was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), was produced before the court earlier today.

Rajakumari, 41, a resident of Badulla, was arrested on May 11 based on a complaint made by her employer, famed producer Sudharma Nethicumara, claiming that she had stolen gold jewellery belonging to her.

She had later died while in the custody of the Welikada Police. Her relatives raised suspicions, alleging that she had been subjected to assault.

On August 25, the Colombo Additional Magistrate Harshana Kekunawala ordered the CID to arrest the suspects linked to the housemaid’s death.

The verdict was delivered after careful examination of evidence and the findings in the post-mortem report submitted by the Judicial Medical Officer. Accordingly, the cause of death was ruled as hemorrhagic shock caused by damage to the deceased’s muscles after being attacked with a blunt weapon or similar force.

Further investigations into the incident are conducted by the CID under the supervision of its Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Meryl Ranjan Lamahewa.