It has been reported that a convict sentenced to death and imprisoned in connection with the abduction, gang rape, and murder of 18-year-old schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vidya in the Jaffna District in 2015 has died by suicide.
The deceased has been identified as 46-year-old Poobalasingham Jeyakumar, said Ada Derana reporter.
The Department of Prisons stated that the inmate, who was being held at Jaffna Prison, died by suicide last night (24).
On May 6, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the death sentences imposed by a three-member High Court trial-at-bar on four defendants, including ‘Swiss Kumar’, in connection with the case.
The judgment was delivered by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, which dismissed the appeals filed by the defendants seeking acquittal and release.
However, the Court also acquitted two other defendants.
At the time the judgment was delivered, three of the defendants sentenced to death, including the deceased, had appeared before the court via Zoom.
