Father of two arrested over killing of Fatima Ayesha after allegedly confessing to police

By Norman Palihawadane-2022/05/31

The Bandaragama police yesterday arrested a 29-year-old father of two, who, under interrogation, had allegedly confessed to the killing of nine-year-old Fatima Ayesha of Atalugama.

The suspect had been a neighbour of the victim for years, police said.

The suspect allegedly divulged that, on Friday, while he was on his way home, he had met Fatima and spoken to her. She was returning home from the nearby chicken shop and was willing to walk home with him. He waylaid the child and took her into a nearby shrub to abuse her. He failed to do so and fearing the child would inform the adults of the incident he dumped Fatima in a marshland and forced her head in the mud, the suspect has allegedly told the police.

The suspect has two children who used to play with Fatima, the police said, adding that further investigations were in progress.

The suspect would be produced in court. According to the postmortem report the victim was not sexually abused.

The body of Fatima, who was reported missing since Friday morning, was found in a marsh located close to her home on Saturday evening (28).

The Bandaragama Police, the Crimes Investigation Division of Panadura Police and the CID launched joint probes over the disappearance of the girl while four police teams were deployed to search for her whereabouts.

The victim reportedly left her home to go to a nearby shop on Friday morning to buy chicken and had not returned home.

Following a complaint lodged by the girl’s parents with the police, a search operation was launched and CCTV footage was found showing the girl entering and leaving the shop.

The body of the girl was found by the residents of the area on Saturday evening (28) in a jungle swamp near the girl’s house.

The IGP ordered to hand over the investigations into the death of the girl to the Homicide and Organized Crime Investigation Division of the CID.

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has launched a special investigation into the killing.