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North schoolgirl (18) rape and murder: Suspects further remanded at AG’s request
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The suspects at the Jaffna High Court
The Jaffna High Court on Wednesday further remanded for three more months, nine suspects arrested over the rape and murder of a school girl in Punkudutheevu, after the Attorney General’s (AG) Dept sought further detention to conclude investigations.
Marking one year of court proceedings in the Kayts Magistrate’s court with repeated extensions of custody of suspects, the case was taken up for hearing for the first time in the Jaffna High Court (HC), before HC Judge M. Ilanchelian, where nine of the 13 suspects were produced.
Only three of the suspects were represented by a lawyer while the others told court that the Attorneys-at-Law of the Jaffna Bar refused to represent them. As per the AG Dept’s charge sheet, the 4th, 7th and 9th suspects were represented by a lawyer from the South, as the Jaffna Bar unanimously decided not to represent any of the suspects in court.
When the lawyers representing the victim’s family questioned the delay to submit DNA and forensic reports to the courts, the Kayts Magistrate was told by a representative of Genetech, the private company which did the tests, that the police were yet to pay for its services.
Earlier, the Kayts Magistrate’s court referred to the Jaffna High Court as it cannot order suspects to be remanded for more than a year. The Jaffna HC ordered the Anuradhapura prisons chief to produce all nine suspects on Wednesday while directing Northern Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police to strengthen security at the court premises.
Attorney-at-Law, Sarath Galgamuwa, representing the three suspects from one family, requested court to grant bail for his clients, because family members are struggling to lead their day-to-day lives, as their relatives have been under prolonged custody.
He argued that the three suspects were residing in Colombo at that time of the incident, and hence, were not involved in the rape or murder of the school girl. He urged court to examine the CCTV footage, banking transactions, receipts given at hotels provided to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The AG’s Dept represented by Janab Shakthi Ismail explained to court the consequences of granting bail to the suspects, and argued that witnesses would be threatened, if bail was granted.
He also brought to the attention of court that, if the suspects were given bail, there could be social unrest similar to the the attacks on the Jaffna court complex soon after the incident last year.
Rejecting the bail applications for the nine suspects and three more in detention, Judge Ilanchelian urged the Jaffna Bar to reconsider their decision of not representing the suspects, on the basis that everybody had the right to tell their side of the story to the court. The nine suspects were ordered to be produced when the case is taken up on August 10.
In May last year, Vidya Sivaloganathan, an 18-year-old student from Punguduthivu island, was gang-raped and murdered. Public unrest erupted with protests and demonstrations across the northern and eastern provinces, demanding a speedy trial and justice for the victim.
(SR)