Kalutara teen girl’s death: Main suspect remanded until 26th May

The main suspect arrested in connection with the suspicious death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kalutara has been remanded until May 26, 2023.

Police today (May 12) produced him before court once again and the Kalutara Magistrate ordered to remand the suspect for 14 days.

A 29-year-old suspect named Danushka Gayan Sahabandu, a resident of Isuru Uyana in Kalutara, was arrested in Hikkaduwa on May 09, three days after the schoolgirl’s body was recovered.

Soon after his arrest, Kalutara Magistrate’s Court, on 10th May, allowed the Police to detain him for a period of 48 hours for interrogations.

During preliminary interrogations, the suspect denied all murder accusations. He told the police that the girl jumped off the hotel building.

Meanwhile, the hotel owner’s wife, a 48-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday (May 11) for not properly checking the National Identity Card (NIC) of the deceased before providing accommodation for her at the hotel.

Initial probes had revealed that the NIC produced to the hotel by the 16-year-old girl for rent a room belongs to one of her friends.

Meanwhile, yesterday (May 11) it was announced that investigations into the suspicious death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kalutara on Saturday will be taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Inspector General of Police C.D. Wickramaratne issued necessary directives to the CID to take over the investigation which has made headlines in the past few days.