Last week a news that a 10 year old boy had gone missing, went viral on Facebook and throughout the country with the Chilaw Police going on to confirm the incident. It was last Sunday (25) that a large crowd was watching the T.V. screen at a boutique in the rural hamlet, Samidugama. The screen depicted the picture of a small boy and an elderly person of about 50 years. The missing boy Susith Nirmal whose family lived in Samidugama, Iranawila had an elder sister, two brothers and a younger sister. His father Chaminda is a fisherman and mother Priyanthi, a housewife. Nirmal was a student of St.Peters’ College Iranawila. On that ill-fated day Nirmal was fast asleep when his parents, devout Catholics, went to Church for Sunday Mass having told him to go to the dhamma school.
Nirmal habitually used to go to a local boutique where the mudalali was familiar with him. That day, Nirmal met a stranger at the boutique who gave him a toffee and suggested they go to catch parrots. The stranger was known in the area as a coconut plucker.
Later, the stranger left the boutique along with the child. There was evidence that the stranger had bought two packets of lunch which he had shared with the child, as was revealed later. Nirmal’s friend who was frightened at the sight of a knife which the stranger had with him, was reluctant to go with Nirmal.
The police combed the shrub jungle in search of the missing child having received information that a stranger clad in shorts had gone towards the jungle with a boy.
A few miles deep into the jungle the police, along with the villagers found the semi-naked body of Nirmal. A team of medical officers headed by the Chilaw JMO Dr. D.K. Wijewardene visited the alleged scene of murder and commenced investigations. The JMO noticed a few drops of blood at the scene. Chilaw District Judge and Magistrate Rakhitha P. Abeysinghe who held the Magisterial inquiry ordered the Chilaw JMO to hold the autopsy and instructed the police to apprehend the murder suspect. The autopsy revealed that the child was sexually assaulted and death was caused due to using some force on the head of the deceased. His fingers had also been allegedly bitten by the murderer.
It has now been found that the murder suspect is a liquor addict and would have consumed liquor before committing the alleged crime, according to the police. The police have now received information that the suspect had committed the murder of another child in 2003 in the same area.
The Chilaw police is conducting further investigations on this foul murder. The bottom line of the unfortunate incident is the utter irresponsibility on the part of parents, on their children’s whereabouts, and equally, the apathy of the villagers towards small children freely moving with unknown people who are almost strangers in the village.
Pics By Prasad Purnamal