An open verdict has been given on the death of two teenage domestic helpers whose bodies were found floating in a canal in Colombo 7 on Saturday, August 15.
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| The canal where the bodies were found. |
Fourteen-year-old Letchuman Sumathi and 13-year-old Maduraveeran Jeevarani, both from Lakshapana Estate in Maskeliya, took up employment in two adjacent houses in Bauddhaloka Mawatha in April this year. They had found employment through a job agency.
Jeevarani was working at the residence of U. L. M. Kowsiq, while Sumathi worked next door in the home of W. M. Fazaly. As immediate neighbours, the two girls were in close touch. The girls were also in regular contact with their families in Maskeliya.
According to Letchuman Sumathi’s family, Sumathi had called her parents on the night of Friday, August 14, to say she and Jeevarani would stay on in Colombo until the Theevavali festival, in October. From the conversation, the girls appeared to be happy enough with their jobs and life in Colombo.
That Friday night, Jeevarani invited Sumathi to come over and spend the night at Mr. Kowsiq’s residence, as the Kowsiq family was away and Jeevarni would be alone in the house. The occupants in the Fazaly residence next door were all at home.
On Saturday, Sumathi’s father Muniandy Letchuman received a series of calls from Colombo. “About 6 am I got a call from Mr. Fazaly to say that both girls were missing,” Muniandy Letchuman told the Sunday Times. “About 9 am I received another call to say that Sumathi’s body had been found in a canal, and that she had been pushed into the canal by Jeewarani. An hour later I received a third call to say Jeewarani’s body too had been found, and that my presence was required in Colombo immediately”.
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| Jeevarani's father |
Jeevarani's mother |
Sumathi's mother |
Employment broker |
The families of both dead girls rushed to Colombo and proceeded to the Cinnamon Gardens police station where they were informed that the girls’ bodies were found in a canal, and that a suicide note had also been found.
“We were taken to the police morgue where we identified the bodies. The bodies were handed over to us at a funeral parlour in Maradana,” he said. “One of the staff at the mortuary told us that the deaths were caused by drowning.”
On Friday, August 21, two attorneys appearing on behalf of the two bereaved families made an application to the Colombo Chief Magistrate, Nishantha Hapuarachchi, for an order to exhume the bodies of Sumathi and Jeewarani.
The magistrate ordered that a full report be submitted to courts on Tuesday. Affidavits from the parents will also be submitted on Tuesday.
The lawyers for the two families claim the police report on the two deaths was incomplete. “We do not believe there was any reason for the girls to commit suicide,” Jeewarani’s mother Seillaie Maduraveeran told the Sunday Times.
It is understood that Seillaie Maduraveeran had visited her daughter in Colombo the day before the girls were alleged to have committed suicide.
Poverty had forced the two children to take up to employment. Both girls had been students of Nallathanni Tamil Vidyalaya, Maskeliya. Sumathi had studied up to Grade 7 and Jeevarani had studied up to Grade Three.
A sub-agent, Veerachchi Manivannan, 30, had helped the girls find employment through Rana Agency, a jobs agency based in Maskeliya. |
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