Soldier remanded for murdering medical student of Jaffna University

Thu, Jan 23, 2020

Jan 23, Colombo: An Army soldier who was arrested on suspicion of murdering an undergraduate medical student at the Medical Faculty of the Jaffna University, has been remanded till February 6 by Jaffna Magistrate AS Peter Paul.

The suspect, identified as Maddumage Don Eranga Dileep Kumara (30), a resident of Talawila, Beruwela, is a soldier attached to the Medical Corps of the Paranthan Army Camp in Kilinochchi.

The victim was 29-year-old Hapuhettige Don Roshini Kanchana, a final-year medical student of the University of Jaffna, from Badanagoda Beruwela.

The Army soldier and the medical student were meeting in the Pannai exercise strip in Jaffna yesterday afternoon and after an argument between the couple, the soldier had severed the victim’s neck and fled.

However, the youths in the area had caught the suspect when he was fleeing and handed him over to the police.

The police also recovered a sharp weapon used in the murder.

Investigations have revealed that the suspect and the medical student who was killed were husband and wife.

The post mortem of the deceased was held today (23) at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital following a magisterial inquiry into the death.

The Jaffna Police and the Criminal Investigations Department are conducting further investigations.