15 September 2023 10:19 am Views - 303
By Dileep Jayasekara
An accused convicted of murder and sentenced to death lamented in open court that he was destined to end up in gallows due to his mother’s misconduct.
The accused W. Sanjeewa Gunasekara (30) of Udamalala, in Hambantota, who stood indicted with murder was found guilty and sentenced to death by Hambantota High Court Judge yesterday. He was a father of two children.
He had on April 03, 2015 assaulted to death his mother’s paramour Sampson Wannigama of Badagiriya during an altercation. Police told court that the accused, with another individual had visited the victim’s house and requested him to give up his relationship with the former’s mother. During the altercation that followed the accused had assaulted the victim with a helmet . The victim who received serious injuries had been admitted to Hambantota General Hospital and transferred to Karapitiya Teaching Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The accused was 22-years-old at the time of the incident.
The other individual W.A.R. Sanjeewa who had accompanied the accused to the victim’s house was acquitted for want of any evidence of his involvement in the murder.
When the High Court Judge inquired of the accused before delivering the death sentence, whether he had any plea against it, he burst into tears in the dock and said that he was destined to end up in gallows due to his mothers clandestine relations with her paramour. State Counsel Anuradha Wijesurendra prosecuted.