Police arrest main suspect in death of 16-year-old girl in Kalutara

Police have arrested the main suspect in connection with the recent suspicious death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kalutara. 

He had been arrested by police in the Hikkaduwa area, a short while ago.

The 29-year-old person had allegedly accompanied the teenage girl, who was later found dead near the railway track, to the hotel room in Kalutara.

Based on the information received by Kalutara HQI Ruwan Wijesinghe that the suspect is hiding in the Galle area, a group of crime division officers headed by Crime Division OIC Inspector Dhammka Silva had carried out the raid in Hikkaduwa area.

Accordingly, the suspect had been arrested while he is expected to be produced before the Kalutara Magistrate’s Court to obtain detention orders. 

The arrested suspect has been identified as Danushka Gayan Sahabandu, a 29-year-old resident of Isuru Uyana in Kalutara. 

Sri Lanka Police yesterday revealed that several investigation teams had been deployed in order to arrest the main suspect wanted by police in relation to the discovery of the naked body of a 16-year-old schoolgirl on the rail track near a hotel in Kalutara.

Police have also arrested the young couple including another schoolgirl (19) and a young man (22), and also the driver of the car in which the group including the deceased girl had arrived at the hotel in question.

They were ordered to be remanded in custody until May 15, after being produced before the Kalutara Magistrate’s Court on Sunday (May 07). Police have also taken custody of the car in which they travelled to the hotel.

Investigations have revealed that the National Identity Card (NIC) produced by the 16-year-old girl in order to rent a room at the hotel, had been obtained from one of her friends.

So far, it has not been confirmed whether the incident was a suicide or a murder, while investigations are underway presuming it was a murder, the police spokesman said yesterday.

A naked body of a schoolgirl who had possibly died after falling from the third floor of a five-story building where rooms are rented, and located next to the railway line in Kalutara city, was discovered on May 06.

The deceased girl was identified to be aged 16 and a resident of the Nagoda area in Kalutara, while the body had been identified by the parents of the deceased.

Information has been uncovered that the girl in question had come to the place of the incident with another young couple and a young male, and that they had rented two rooms on the third floor and stayed there.
However, an employee of the hotel had witnessed that all four were drinking alcohol in one room, although they had rented two rooms in the hotel.

Later, the young couple had left the hotel, and the hotel employees had witnessed the other young male leaving the hotel in a panic after about 20 minutes.

A person, who came to the hotel later on, had informed the hotel staff that a woman was lying naked on the railway track near the hotel.

After notifying the police regarding the matter, a team of police officers had arrived at the location and checked on the girl in question, however it had been revealed that she had already died.

Later, the young couple who had arrived at the hotel along with the deceased girl had surrendered to police, while another person was arrested on May 07 in connection with the death of the teenage girl.

He has been identified to be the driver of the car in which the group including the deceased girl had arrived at the concerned hotel.