Police suspect murder after 3 bodies found following Chilaw house fire

Police investigations with regard to the three bodies found inside a two-storey house which was on fire in the Sinhapura area in Chilaw, are progressing on the suspicion of a possible homicide as one of the bodies was found with her throat slit, the police spokesman said.  

A 42-year-old man, his 40-year-old wife and their 15-year-old daughter were found dead inside the house after the fire was extinguished. The mother was found dead on a bed inside the house while the father and daughter were found dead in the living room. 

Initially, it was believed that the family of three died from the fire, however, it was later revealed that the throat of the woman had been slit. 

“The throat of the woman found dead on a bed in the house was observed to be somewhat split open and we believe that her throat was most likely slit.” 

“However, we cannot confirm anything as the body was burnt and therefore we can’t be sure whether it was caused by the fire or whether it was slit,” police spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa told reporters in Colombo. 

The deceased woman had been employed as a development officer at the Chilaw Divisional Secretariat and had also served as a teacher at the local Dhamma School (Sunday school). 

Her husband had been engaged in vehicle and property businesses while their daughter was expected to sit for the G.C.E. Ordinary Level exam next year.  

The police spokesman further said that it was observed that the door of the house had been locked from the inside and that flammable objects such as coconut husks and firewood which were outside the house had been brought inside the home and placed in the living room. 

Therefore, police suspect that a dispute which had taken place inside the house could have led to this incident, he added. 

Investigative officers are currently carrying out investigations on the suspicion that it was a murder, the police spokesman said. 

Meanwhile, Ada Derana reporter said that gold jewellery worth around Rs. 2.5 million had gone missing from their home around one month back and it had remained an unsolved mystery as no forced entry had been observed. 

The bodies were taken to the Chilaw District General Hospital this afternoon following the magistrate’s inquiry.