The Colombo High Court has issued capital punishment to a couple for abusing and then causing the death of a 02-year-old child following adoption.
The verdict was issued by Colombo High Court judge Sujeewa Nissanka today (06 Mar).
A case had been filed by the Attorney General on the incident which had occurred in the Maligawatta area on 01 May 2018.
As the accusations had been proven without a doubt, the judge ordered that the couple, aged around 35 years, be sentenced to death.
Issuing the judgement, the judge said Police evidence revealed how they had gone to the house and investigated after receiving information that attempts were being made to bury the body of the child without proper medical examinations.
The Police evidence further states due to suspicion a magisterial inquiry had ordered the postmortem examination to be conducted.
As such, the Judicial Medical Officers’ report had proven that the child had been subjected to severe torture. The child’s body was found with 90 injuries, out of which some were burn injuries and some were due to assault, while there were severe injuries to his testicles as well, the JMO report said.
The Judge said the JMO’s report proves that the child had been subjected to severe torture and his death had occurred due to intentional violence. The report also claimed that the child died due to multiple injuries caused by burns after being subjected to torture for a long period of time.
The judge said, analyzing all the evidence, it has been confirmed that the deceased child lived in the custody of these defendants, and according to the forensic and medical evidence presented, the defendants are responsible for the death. (Islandnews)
