Police launch probe into suspicious death of 9-year-old

Police have commenced a probe into the suspicious death of a nine-year-old girl, who was found hanging inside her house in Iranawila, Chilaw on Saturday (12 Aug).

The deceased child, identified as Shalani Rithusha, was reportedly found hanging in a room inside her house by her neighbour, who was of a similar age.

Upon seeing the body, the child  had cried out for help and alerted Shalani’s father, after which she was rushed to the hospital.

The postmortem examination was scheduled to be performed this evening at the District General Hospital in Chilaw, while the magisterial inquest and the Judicial Medical Officer’s (JMO) examination were conducted in the morning.

Further investigations into whether the child’s death was a suicide or a murder, however, are underway.