• I tried to kill my self three times 

By Indika Ramanayake  

The suspect arrested in connection with the daylight murder of a female university student on Tuesday, has revealed the chilling details of the murder, recording his statement with the Police. 

The following is extracted from the suspect Pasindu Chathuranga’s statement on the gruesome incident. 

 
“I brought her to the Colombo Race Course Grounds, telling her that I wanted to talk to her about something special. There, I blindfolded her saying that I wanted to give her a surprise.”   
“Chuti (the victim) always accused me that I have a mental illness. That is why I was in pain. I brought Chuti to the Race Course Ground saying that there is an urgent matter to discuss. I had planned to kill her for about a month or so because I didn’t wish to see her having an affair with someone else in the future,” the suspect said.   

Chathuri Hansika Mallikarachchi (24), who was a third-year undergraduate at the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of Colombo, died in the early hours of Tuesday after being stabbed in the neck.   

“Since 2019 I have been taking medication for a mental illness. I started an affair with Chuti in 2020. I didn’t tell her that I was under medication, but she came to know about my condition about four or five months ago. Then she wanted to put an end to our relationship and she ended things,” the suspect said in his statement.   

“After that, she completely changed. She constantly called me ‘Pissa’ (Crazy or Lunatic). I wanted to know if she had changed because of another relationship. But she had no such relationship either. I was in pain as she constantly called me a crazy person,” Chathuranga said to the Police.   

“Then I planned to kill her because I didn’t want anyone else to have her. I bought a knife from Wellampitiya Junction on Sunday. I left home on Tuesday with this knife in my bag. After attending the first lecture in the morning, I asked Chuti to come to the Race Course Ground because I wanted to tell a special story,” the suspect explained.   
“At first she refused, then she agreed because I coerced her. We both walked to the Race Course Ground. We stopped at the pond and talked for a while. I was still angry with her at that time. I told her that I have a surprise for her. Then I brought her near to the ground’s scoreboard,” he said.   

“This is where I blindfolded her with a handkerchief. She kept asking me what the surprise was. I stabbed her neck with the knife. She screamed. She took off the blindfold and screamed for help. I stabbed her again,” the suspect said.   

“There was a group of young girls nearby. I feared that they would come to the place, so I ran away. I got on a bus straightaway and went to Wellampitiya thinking that I should throw myself under a train. But after waiting for a long time, no train came. I went home and left my bags and belongings at home and jumped into the Kelani River twice so that I could end my life as well. But those attempts also failed. It was then that I was taken into Police custody,” Chaturanga said.      

• I tried to kill myself twice, but failed