Investigations into Monday’s deaths of a mother and two children at Kaldemulla, Mount Lavinia, took a new turn yesterday following the post mortem conducted by Judicial Medical Officer of Kalubowila Ms Dhammika Ariyaratne.

The victims were T. S. Sandamali Fernando (31), V. Kushan Sandaru de Silva (3) and V. Kushan Bhanuka de Silva (one month).

The JMO revealed that the deaths of the mother and three-year-old child were due to strangulation. The one-month-old child had died as a result of heat and burn injuries. In the wake of the JMO’s report, the police have detained Sandamali’s husband, his mother and the servant, police sources said.

However, police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody said that the Mount Lavinia police were investigating the deaths and no one had been arrested so far.

The police earlier believed that the deaths were due to inhaling the smoke emanating from a burning mattress.

Asked whether the husband was a suspect, SSP Jayakody said that investigations were continuing, though they were yet to make any arrests.

Earlier the police said they had been informed of the incident around 7.05 a.m. by Sandamali’s husband. He told police that he had found an unusual smoke inside the bedroom where his wife and two children were sleeping. When he peeped in he had seen them dead in their sleep on the mattress which had caught fire. The bodies had only minor burn injuries on them, police said.

The husband said that on the day of the incident he had slept in another room.(By Madura Ranwala)

Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)