Child assaulted, buried alive

The Police have launched investigations into an incident where a seven-year-old child had been buried alive after being severely assaulted.

The child’s mother and another woman have been arrested in connection with the incident and operations have been launched to arrest another man and woman.

Delwala Police said it has been revealed that the after assaulting the child the suspects, who thought she was dead, had thrown her body into an abandoned mine in Delwala after wrapping it.

The child, Hansika Harshani Kumari, was a Grade 2 student of a school in Melsiripura.

According to the Police, the four suspects were living together and the main suspect is a military absentee. He has several cases against them with regard to rape, child abuse, moonshine production etc.

The child’s mother is a resident of Melsiripura. She lodged a complaint with Melsiripura Police that her daughter was missing and she suspected a person from Kelaniya might have kidnapped the child. The Police then summoned that person and questioned him. After he revealed that he was not responsible for the disappearance of the child, the Delwala Police had questioned the mother further.

The mother then confessed that the child was beaten severely for eating a ‘Peni Walalu.’ After the child became unconscious, they (the main suspect and three women) threw the body into the abandoned mine. The mother also said the main suspect had continuously been beating the child over several months.

Police protection has been provided to the abandoned mine and the body is expected to be exhumed in the coming days, Delwala Police said.