Murder of Kuliyapitiya youth: 18-year-old girlfriend arrested

Police have arrested the girlfriend of the youth from Kuliyapitiya who was found murdered weeks after his disappearance. 

The 18-year-old suspect, a resident of Wassawulla in Ilukhena, has been arrested on charges of aiding and abetting in the murder and concealing the crime, police said.

Police had launched an investigation after the disappearance of the youth, Susitha Jayawansa, 31, a resident of Kabalewa area in Kuliyapitiya, was reported on April 22 and he was last seen visiting his girlfriend’s house following a phone call received from her father.

However, the body of the missing youth was discovered weeks later at the Panirendawa forest reserve in the Madampe area. The body was found torched and dumped in a forest area in Madampe on May 07 while it was confirmed that the youth had been murdered. 

Following the disappearance, it was reported that the main suspect and his wife, the girlfriend of the missing youth and the two sons of the main suspect, as well as the main suspect’s sister and her husband, have left their homes and fled the area.

However, the main suspect Sujith Fernando who is also known as ‘Singithi’ and his wife Dilani Rasika had surrendered to the court through attorneys on May 06 and were ordered remanded in custody.