Eldest son notified before Kamburupitiya deaths occured: "You'll see our deaths!"

Police who are engaged in carrying out investigations on the incident where a father and 3 children have committed suicide hanging themselves bringing a shock to all those in Kamburupitiya area have come across certain documents indicating that all those deaths were carried out on the will of the deceased members of the family.

It was a father, 2 daughters and 1 son from a poverty-stricken family who had committed suicide. While the youngest son was a samanera, there is

an elder son who has already entered the Bhikku Sasana. It was a month ago that the wife had deserted her husband and children as a consequence of a domestic issue. Subsequently all work connected to the two daughters and management of the house had fallen on the shoulders of the father and thus it had been a difficult task for him to handle it single-handedly. The father has had no proper income and they had gone without food during the past few days, it was reported. In the meantime the youngest son who was handed over to the Sasana had come to the house some days before this macabre incident.

"We have no way of going to school. People are telling various stories. Father didn't eat or drink. Podi sadhu came home. We were in favour of the decision father took. You'll see the dead bodies of the three of us". The police were able to recover notes containing the above words written in a letter to their eldest brother who was a monk, before these deaths by one of the sisters.

The Thera Ransegoda Sudaththa the eldest son who has entered the Sasana and is residing in a temple in Ratnapura area having been informed about this tragedy had gone into a state of shock and after arriving at the house gave evidence in this connection and said that one of his sisters had contacted him over the phone and informed him that all of them were going to commit suicide but that he had not believed those words at that moment itself. However, on the phone call given the last time it had been mentioned that 'father was tying the hands of the other children and that all of them will be committing suicide' at which moment the thera had got upset. The referred to earlier document was located in a bag place on another tree nearby after the dead bodies were found hanging on a tree close to the yard of the house that went up in fire.

Though these letters were found written by the 3 children yesterday (27), what was suspicious is that these deaths apparently gave the impression that the act was preplanned. The letters bore the date of last 18th and it is not clear whether a mistake was made in the date or whether those were written in advance. The police also recovered a letter written by the deceased father signed on top of a stamp to the effect making a request not to let his wife see his body.

As a result of this tragedy the whole family were destroyed and it is the mother who deserted and the 19 year old eldest child who were thus left. In this connection the 3 children, 14 year old other thera by the name of Ranpegoda Mangala, 16 year old Kaushalya Sewwandi, 10 year old Hiruni Sewwandi and 44 year old Pathiranage Priyantha the father who had committed suicide.

The police say that the hands of the 3 children were found tied from behind. It has been observed at inquiries that the children had been made to stand on a chair and after putting the noose round their necks had pulled the chairs away in the end. It was understood that the father had finally put an end to his life too by climbing a tree and putting the noose round his neck. These deaths were observed when police received a telephone call to the 119 Police Emergency Unit day-before-yesterday (26) at about 9.45 in the night that a house is on fire in Beraliathura and when they proceeded to arrive at the location concerned and conducted investigations.