A 53-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murdering her businessman husband after police investigations suggested the death was not an accident, but a deliberate act. The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Ragama Police detained the woman yesterday (24), following evidence that she had assaulted and strangled her 60-year-old husband, and then pushed his body from the upper floor of their home.
The victim has been identified as businessman Susantha Dhammika, a resident of Welipillawa, Ganemulla. The incident first came to light when Dhammika’s daughter, Mrs. Suranji Isanka, reported to the Ragama Police that her father had fallen to his death from the upper floor of the house. A team of Ragama Police officers, led by Police Sergeant Abeykoon (50195), promptly visited the home and began preliminary investigations into the reported fall.
Initial inquiries raised suspicion, prompting the police to submit an information report to the Welisara Court. Acting Magistrate M. Gunawardena visited the scene and ordered a post-mortem examination at the Ragama Teaching Hospital’s Judicial Medical Officer in North Colombo. The findings from the post-mortem, along with further CID investigations, led to the arrest of the wife on suspicion of murder.
According to a senior police officer quoted by the Lankadeepa newspaper, new information emerged indicating that the couple had an argument on the night of the incident while they were upstairs in the house. Further investigation revealed that during the argument, the wife attacked her husband and strangled him using the saree she was wearing. She then allegedly pushed his body over the balcony, causing it to fall to the ground.
Police sources say the woman’s intention was to make the death appear accidental, hoping to convince others in the house that her husband had fallen from the upper floor. The details of the alleged crime surfaced during the suspect’s interrogation, according to police sources. The case remains under investigation as authorities work to confirm the full sequence of events leading to the businessman’s death.
