Children hacked to death over roof gutter dispute in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO — Two children from the same family were killed at Waikkal, Wennappuwa in Sri Lanka Tuesday morning over a roof gutter dispute.

The victims were Gimhari Nisali Rupasinghe (19) a GCE A/L student of Dankotuwa Balika Vidyalaya and her brother G.P. Sahan Methsara Rupasinghe (08) a student of St. Sebastian Vidyalaya, Nainamadama.

When the crime was committed, the father of the victims was away and their mother was on the first floor of the house. Police said that the suspect had put up an eatery opposite the victims’ residence.

According to police, the victims parents had complained to the Wennappuwa police about a roof gutter from the suspect’s house. As the matter couldn’t be settled by the police, the owners had complained to the Wennappuwa Pradeshiya Sabha.

The suspect had been asked to obtain a report from a technical officer and visit the Pradeshiya Sabha on Wednesday at 10.00 a.m. The PS Chairman Susantha Fernando said the suspect may have feared that he would be asked to dismantle his eatery.

The victims were pronounced dead on admission to the Negombo Hospital.