• Investigations revealed that the deceased woman had left the house on October 28 evening in a three-wheeler with a woman and another man

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya

A couple was arrested in connection with the incident where a woman’s body was found in a suitcase at a garbage dump at Mabima in Sapugaskanda last week.

Police said the arrested were identified as residents of Mattakkuliya who reportedly had last accompanied the deceased woman in a three-wheeler.

The woman’s body was found last Thursday with her hands tied and placed inside a travelling bag.
Later, the body was identified as that of Mohamed Safiq Fatima,  a resident of Maligawatta.

The woman, a mother of two, had been missing since October 28 and her husband had lodged a complaint with the Bloemendal Police on November 1 over her disappearance.
Police said the woman's body was identified by her husband at the Ragama Hospital.

Following the recovery of the body, four police teams had been deployed to investigate the incident.
Police said the deceased woman was a money lender and a gambler.

Investigations revealed that the deceased woman had left the house on October 28 evening in a three-wheeler with a woman and another man.

It was revealed that Fatima was taken to the suspect woman's house at Samithpura.

The 36-year old Sitti Roshana, her husband Ananda Babu and her brother had reportedly killed Fatima by strangling and beating her to death with a stick following an argument.

The couple had then packed the body in a suitcase and taken it away in a lorry on the 29th of October and dumped it in a garbage dump on the Sapugaskanda Mabima road.

Police say that the other person involved in the murder had fled the area with Fatima's gold jewellery and money.
Meanwhile, the lorry carrying the body has been taken into police custody and investigations are underway to find the three-wheeler.

• 36-year old Sitti Roshana, her husband Ananda Babu and her brother had reportedly killed Fatima by strangling and beating her to death with a stick following an argument
• Police said the deceased woman was a money lender and a gambler