Sunday Times 2
Murder by chloroform at Duff House, Bagatalle Road
Maha Mudaliyar Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike of Horogolla Walauwe had two daughters and a son. The son was SWRD, Prime Minister of Ceylon, from 1956 to 1959. He married Sirimavo, one of the daughters of Barnes Ratwatte (later Sir Barnes). She was a good 18 years SWRD’s junior in age. Though Sir Solomon was not a man of education, he aspired to high titular office. He aped the British so much that he named his son Solomon West Ridgeway after a British Governor.
SWRD was educated at St Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, a Christian school, and at the University of Oxford, where he was elected Treasure of the Oxford Union. He was admitted to the English Bar and, on his return, he practised his profession for a few years. Thereafter, he took to politics and was elected as the representative for Veyangoda. Unlike his father, he was national minded, and donned the “ariyasinhala” dress, and even became a Buddhist.
One of Sir Solomon’s daughters was given in marriage to Leo D’Alwis of Mt. Lavinia. The D’Alwis’ were possessed of vast tracts of agricultural property, and property in the Western Province. Leo’s sister, Lillian Roslin, was given in marriage to a Cambridge-educated, non-practising barrister – Stephen Seneviratne. The bride was a lady of large proportions, heavily built. Stephen was the eldest son of Attapattu Mudaliyar Solomon Seneviratne, and his mother was a sister of the Maha Mudaliyar. So we see that Stephen and wife were both closely related to Sir Solomon.
Stephen’s country residence was Kandahena Estate, Veyangoda. Stephen and his wife, soon after they married, resided at White House, Ward Place, Colombo. 7, which was not such a residential area, as it is now. He had a short stint at the Bar, but left and joined the Valuation Dept. as a Govt. Assessor. Within a few years he left Govt. service and did freelance Valuation for the Public Trustees Dept. and the State Mortgage Bank. He did not thereafter show any inclination to engage in intellectual pursuits and to continue as a member of the Bar. He was more interested in managing his agricultural lands. He was particularly interested in animal husbandry and poultry rearing, hardly the kind of activity expected of a Cambridge-educated lawyer. Perhaps Stephen knew his limitations. He knew only too well that qualifying as a lawyer was one thing, and practising was quite another. His son Terence, perhaps, took to agriculture, and became the Director of Agriculture at Peradeniya, due to his father’s influence.
After a difficult confinement, Mrs. Seneviratne gave birth to their only child, Terrence and the doctor in attendance was Dr. S.C. Paul, one of the earliest Ceylonese to qualify as a surgeon. Some years after the birth of the baby, Mrs. Seneviratne developed an early diabetic condition. At the time of her marriage, both her parents were dead, being chronic diabetics. She was given in marriage by her brother Leo D’ Alwis, who was extremely fond of her. Mrs. Seneviratne developed a morbid frame of mind and made no bones about the fact that she too would not live long, like her parents.
A few years later, Stephen decided to sell White House, which he had inherited. Mrs. Seneviratne had constant breezes with Stephen over this sale. He sold a dowry property at Wellawatte and with the proceeds he purchased the farm at Nawala and an estate at Alawwa.
Another matter that they were quarrelling about was a servant girl called Jessie. Mrs. Seneviratne had suspicions that Stephen was having an illicit affair with Jessie. This girl was sacked by Mrs. Seneviratne, but re-employed by Stephen to work in the Nawala property.
After the sale of White House, they shifted to a rented house in Arbuthnot Street, until April 1933, when they shifted to Duff House at Bagatalle Road in October of the same year. While living at Arbuthnot St, she wrote to Stephen the following letter, which was produced at the trial. The letter read; “By creeping into a miserable house for Rs100/- if anything goes wrong with my child, I will without hesitation kill myself then and there. I will not be a burden and a stumbling block to you much longer. Only a few years is all that is left for me. Every morning, noon and night I will pray to God to shorten my days. With every charitable act I shall pray for the same thing. I now live as a prisoner in the cell, waiting for the end of his term. I will not live for more than 40 or 50 years, because my parents died early. I will await death my comforter and redeemer. Can you buy me a pistol before I go to the other house. At least alone I will have some sort of defence then.”
Their son Terrence was very attached to his father. His mother used to beat him up whenever she lost her temper. Over this too, there were constant quarrels between husband and wife. She also disapproved of Stephen visiting his sister-in-law, Mrs. Francis Seneviratne at Veyangoda.
Mrs. Stephen Seneviratne, according to the evidence led at the trial, was a highly strung neurotic person. She flew into a rage for trivial matters, and often used to lock herself up and refuse to eat, for several days. She thought that White House was haunted and complained of ghosts. Noises of polecats used to be considered by her as strange noises. Stephen never took his wife seriously and treated her in a light hearted manner. They had been leading a cat and dog life for some years before her death.
At Duff House Mrs. Seneviratne slept with her maid Alpina. In the next room, Terrence slept with his Nurse Mabel Joseph. According to Alpina, Mrs. Seneviratne spent a restless night on the day in question, and woke up twice, once to close the shutters due to the rains, and again, to drink some water. Was she tossing in bed contemplating the drastic action she was hoping to take in the morning?
At 6 a.m., according to Alpina, the lady was awake. Alpina went to the kitchen. About 15 minutes later, their 15-year-old servant boy Seelas, and driver Perera told Alpina that the lady wanted her. As she entered her mistress’s room she noticed an oily smell. Because the lady was lying across the bed with her head towards the wall and legs hanging over the outer edge of the bed, her master went to the lady’s bed and fanned his wife with a book, and sent the maid for some brandy, and hot water in empty beer bottles which her master applied to the various parts of her mistress’s body. He also attempted artificial respiration.
According to Alpina and 21-year-old Mabel Joseph, the lady was alive on Sunday October 15th at 6.15 a.m. There was a bottle of Aspirin tablets in her room. Did the servants hear a scream, a groan or a gurgling sound?
Then the car was sent to fetch the aunt of Mrs. Stephen — Mrs. Harry Dias Bandaranaike and the family doctor, Dr S.C. Paul.
If Stephen was responsible for her death, rather than suicide, “it would have to be a carefully prepared and a well timed act, on his part, to come into his wife’s room ready with the bottle of smelling salts, filled with chloroform, poured the chloroform on to a handkerchief of his wife and smothered her by placing the saturated hankie over her mouth and nostrils, and then gone into his son’s room and being seen by Alpina, coming out of the room”.
There was ample evidence that Mrs. Seneviratne was familiar with the use of chloroform, and that she was aware of the fact that chloroform was available in the house.
Dr. Paul arrived at Duff House along with Mrs. Harry Dias Bandaranaike on the morning of 15th October. Though Dr. Paul thought it was a case of suicide by taking an overdose of Aspirin, he telephoned the Coroner, the Police and Leo D’Alwis. On learning later that the Police and the Coroner did not suspect foul play, and did not propose to take any action, he gave a certificate that death was due to syncope or heart failure, following an over dose of Aspirin. Leo D’Alwis had himself noticed the marks on the face but did not seriously suspect foul play, as his sister had threatened suicide, many times.
On October 16th, the funeral took place. Leo D’Alwis’ suspicions grew as there were frequent quarrels between his sister and Stephen and he was not satisfied about the marks on her face. On the advice of Dr. Paul, Leo made a complaint on November 7th. Inquest proceedings began before E.H.R. Tennison, Police Magistrate. Tennison ordered the exhumation and the post-morten examination was conducted by Dr. T.S. Nair, the JMO. Tennison was of the opinion that Mrs. Seneviratne was murdered. On December 3rd the Additional Magistrate C.B.P. Perera started Non-Summary Proceedings, continued day to day, and the accused Stephen Seneviratne was committed to stand his trial before the Supreme Court.
NEXT – Supreme Court Trial of Stephen Seneviratne and Appeal to the Privy Council – Part 2
(The writer expresses his gratitude to Firoz Sameer, for having provided him with some literature regarding this case)