Ishalini's body exhumed for second post-mortem

COLOMBO (News 1st); The body of 16-year-old Jude Kumar Ishalini, the domestic aide who died while employed at the residence of Ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, was exhumed on Friday (30), as per a court order.

Court ordered for the exhumed body of 16-year-old Jude Kumar Ishalini to be moved to the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital under armed guard for the second post-mortem to be carried out.

The order was made by Nuwara Eliya Magistrate Lushaka Kumari Dharmakeerthi on Thursday (29).

The 03-member Panel of Experts was appointed on Wednesday (28) to conduct the 02nd postmortem.

The Panel of Experts was appointed as nominated by the Director-General of Health Services and on the recommendation of the Attorney General.

The members of the 03-member Expert Panel are:

01. Professor Jean Perera – Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Medical Faculty of the University of Colombo

02. Senior Lecturer Dr. Sameera Gunwardena – Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Colombo

03. Dr. Prabhath Senasinghe – Consultant Judicial Medical Officer at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital

The body was exhumed under the supervision of the respective Magistrate, with the assistance of all experts and stakeholders in the field.

Police have so far arrested three suspects in connection with the death of the 16-year old girl at the Ex-Minister’s residence.

They are the Ex-Minister’s Wife, Father-in-Law, and a broker, Ponniah Bandaram alias Shankar, who has trafficked the girl for domestic work.

In addition, the brother-in-law of Ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen was arrested by Sri Lanka Police for committing rape.

Police Spokesperson Senior DIG Ajith Rohana speaking to News 1st on Thursday (29) said 11 women were employed as domestic aides at the residence of the Ex-Minister since 2010 and all of them were from Dayagama or surrounding areas.

He said that the detectives recorded statements from 05 of these women and the information unearthed will be investigated further.

Police Spokesperson Senior DIG Ajith Rohana speaking to News 1st on the 23rd of July said statements were recorded from two domestic aides who served at the Ex-Minister’s residence before the arrival of the 16-year-old girl.

These two domestic aides are women aged 22 and 32, both from Dayagama and investigations revealed that a trafficker identified as Ponnaiah Bandaram alias Shankar had brought them to Colombo.

The 22-year-old woman had expressed that she was raped at the official residence of the Ex-Minister in Colombo from 2015 to 2019.

The 44-year-old brother-in-law of Ex-Minister Bathiudeen was identified as the suspect and was arrested by the detectives.

On the 26th of July, court ordered for all four suspects to be placed in remand custody until the 09th of August 2021.

On that day, Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris pointed out to the court that the prosecution suspects the death was not suicide, but murder.