News
Man hides sister’s severed foot in jungle; docs unable to reattach it
A man who chopped off his sister’s foot with a sword, over a land dispute in Balangoda, removed the severed part of the leg, preventing doctors from attempting to re-attach the part to her leg, police said.
The man, with the help of his son, chopped off his 54-year-old sister Stella Pushpa Wickramaratne’s foot from the ankle, on the Kaltota Road in Dehigastalawa, when the victim, the Librarian at the Balangoda town library, was walking towards her home around 5.30 p.m. after work.
As police reached the area, the suspects had fled into the nearby jungle, villagers told police.
When police visited the Balangoda hospital, doctors urged them to recover the severed foot, so that they could re-attach it to the leg.
Although the police party combed the jungles they failed to find the severed foot. “There were jackals and leopards in the jungle and the chances of recovery were slim, as it could have been devoured by animals,” police told the Sunday Times.
Later, the police, acting on a tip-off, arrested the suspect assailant and his son hiding in the jungle in the Randola area, and recovered the weapon used in the attack.
According to police, the brother was desperate to take possession of his sister’s property, as she was a spinster. The land was located in the Dehigastalawa area, and had been bequeathed to them by their parents.
Police said it was a premeditated attack by the younger brother of the injured woman, who harboured a grudge against her, simply because she refused to transfer her share of the property to him.
“Although she had agreed to transfer her property on an earlier occasion, she backed out later for some unknown reason, which infuriated him. The brother had made several death threats against her previously,” police said.
OIC Crimes Balangoda police Inspector U.M.N. Shelton arrested the suspects, who were later remanded.