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Lust and foul murder in the dead of night
It was one of the most puzzling and grotesque crimes – the young woman whose body lay naked beside a stream had vanished noiselessly in the night while her mother lay sleeping in the same room.
Now, as detectives prepare to go to court, details of the tragedy are emerging.
The suspect (in blue T shirt) being led out of the Matale Magistrate court. Pic by Mahesh Keerthiratne
The alarm was raised on the morning of May 26 this year when Nadisha Warapitiya, a 23-year-old undergraduate, was found missing from her bed and nowhere to be found.
Matale police were called in and found her body in the forest close to her home. Interrogations of the dead girl’s family members and known criminals in her village turned up no leads.
The crime was given wide publicity in the media and the IGP ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) into the hunt for the murderer.
A team of CID sleuths was rushed to the Matale area to pick up the threads of the local police investigation.
They began grilling several persons the Matale police had released due to lack of evidence.
Rumours proliferated in the village that the victim’s relatives were complicit in the murder.
The sleuths thought otherwise and began grilling two notorious men who lived close by.
One was questioned and released, with police satisfied he had no hand in the crime.
The other, Denzil Jayawardena, 35, had a criminal record of stealing women’s underwear and was also involved in burglaries and thefts in the village.
Police sources say Jayawardena gave several alibis that proved to be false
He was subjected to a DNA test, and this, the sources say, gave the CID its breakthrough.
The DNA test matched matter found on Nadisha’s body. This confirmed suspicions that he was lying and withholding vital information relating to the rape and murder of the young girl.
Police sources have told the Sunday Times that after relentless interrogation Jayawardena broke down and confessed what happened that night.
The following account is what Jayawardena allegedly confessed to detectives.
It was May 25, the day of Nadisha’s brother’s wedding.
After the ceremony and festivities ended that night, the newly-married couple along with other family members returned to their ancestral home, thoroughly exhausted.
That night, our police informants said, Jayawardena decided to break into their home to steal valuable gifts and cash the newly-wedded couple had received that day.
He stealthily entered the house late in the night and found the newly-weds fast asleep in their room. He picked up a handbag lying on a table but to his disappointment it only contained Rs. 3,000.
Discarding the bag he tiptoed into the next room and found Nadisha and her mother faster asleep in their beds.
The suspect, a sex pervert by nature, was overcome by the evil desire to rape the girl, according to his alleged confession.
He picked up a big conch shell that had been used at the wedding ceremony and was lying on a table in the room and bashed the sleeping girl on the head with the heavy object.
As Nadisha writhed in pain Jayawardena slipped out of the room, apprehensive that her mother would hear her voice and wake up.
He remained outside the room for about 25 minutes, listening.
Hearing no outcry he went back inside and found Nadisha unconscious and still.
He lifted her from the bed and began carrying her out of the room. As he came to the doorway, his hand accidentally struck the door and made a noise.
Again fearful that her mother would wake up, he put Nadisha back in her bed and stood quietly for about a quarter of an hour.
But the mother was in deep slumber throughout these events, and Jayawardena finally carried his victim out of the room.
Police sources say he carried her to an estate near a stream close by and, having pulled off her clothes, raped her.
He jumped into the stream and bathed before going home.
Acting on a request made by the CID, the Matale Magistrate ordered a second DNA test on the suspect.
Jayawardena is in remand custody until November 25 until investigations are completed.