Accused in rape case nabbed after absconding for 15 years

Hungama Police have arrested an individual who had been evading courts for 15 years after being sentenced to four years Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) after being convicted of rape and fraud. 

The Hambantota High Court had found the accused guilty of a rape committed at Kattakaduwa in Hungama in 1990 and a fraud amounting to Rs.13,650, sentencing him to four years RI. He had subsequently been out on bail while the verdict was being appealed at the Tangalle High Court. 

The Tangalle High Court too found the accused guilty of the offences and upheld the verdict delivered by the Hambantota High Court. 

The accused had thereafter proceeded to remain in hiding at various locations throughout the island and had settled down in Bogaswewa in Vavuniya after marrying a woman from Kandy. 

However, according to investigations conducted by the Hungama Police, the accused had been in the habit of coming to Kandy on occasions. Based on these investigations, a team of officers had managed to apprehend the suspect while he was in Kandy to attend a clinic in hospital. 

The accused, who is now 55 years old, will be produced before the Tangalle Magistrate's Court, police said. 

Text by Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi in Hambantota 

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