The grandfather of the 05-year-old boy whose body was found with cut injuries at a construction site in Mulleriyawa has been granted bail after being produced before the Alutkade No. 06 Magitrate’s Court today (June 11).

Accordingly, he has been released on two surety bails of Rs. 300,000 each, and was also ordered to appear before the courts on June 15, 2023.

Police last night (June 10) arrested the grandfather of the 05-year-old boy, who was recently found dead at a construction site in Mulleriyawa, over failure to provide necessary protection for the child.

The child, who had suffered cut wounds initially believed to have been caused by the pieces of a broken glass bottle, was found dead on Thursday evening (June 08) at a construction site in the Mulleriyawa police division.

The investigators observed that the five-year-old, Jonathan Mark Fonseka, had died due to excessive bleeding. Meanwhile, pieces of a broken glass bottle were also found approximately 4 feet away from the body. But this raised suspicions as the investigators could not find any blood stains between the body and the glass shards.

Later, a grass cutter who had been in the vicinity of the child on that day was arrested in connection with the child’s death.

Making a startling revelation during the interrogations, the suspect admitted that the boy had not, in fact, died from cut wounds caused by the shards of a broken glass bottle as initially suspected.

In his confession, the 51-year-old grass cutter confessed that the child had died after the blades of his grass-cutting machine had struck the boy accidentally. In a panic, the suspect went on to place the shards of a broken glass bottle near the body, to make it look like the apparent cause of the critical injuries suffered by the child were due to the broken glass bottle.

The grass cutter was placed remanded until June 15, after being produced before the courts yesterday.

It was reported that the child had been looked after by his grandparents during the daytime, while his mother, who is separated from her husband, was away at work. However, the grandfather, who went out to get some work done on the day of the incident, had left the child with the suspect who was working at the construction site where he served as a caretaker.

Meanwhile, the body of the child was handed over to the parents following the completion of the post-mortem examination at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Mulleriyawa.

The final rites of the child are scheduled to be carried out today.