Tragedy -abused mother admits killing daughter
Pix by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
A woman suspected of having killed her daughter and having thrown the corpse into the Kala Oya, on Friday made a confidential statement to the Chief Magistrate of Puttalam -Indrajith Buddhadasa.
Her statement on the incident, was recorded for over an hour.
The suspect Nayana Kumari, 21, of Olumadu, Neelabamma, Saliyawewa is currently in remand custody and was ordered to be produced in Court again next Tuesday.
The daughter, four-year-old W.G. Theruni was known in her village for her dancing skills and was said to be a talkative child. She preferred to be with her grandmother. Being away, distanced her relationship with her mother.
Nayana the little girl’s mother, who had also undergone a troubled childhood, with her own father being murdered when she around 12-years-old, and her mother being implicated in the murder.
Nayana did not love her daughter. On the contrary, she hated the child.
At the age of 16, she commenced an affair with a youg man and left the area. She and her partner subsequently returned to Saliyawewa where the couple engaged in brewing illicit liquor in addition to engaging in other nefarious activities. Some time later, she gave birth to the girl Theruni.
Nayana's circumstances grew worse when her partner abandoned the family. To make a living she continued to brew illicit liquor.
On January 30, the day the child is alleged to have gone missing, Nayana’s mother and her new partner are reported to have gone to the jungle to check their illicit distillery.
Nayana in the meantime had visited the Saliyawewa police station where she is said to have made an unsolicited statement, in which she claimed, she was often driven by evil forces to assault the child.
On receipt of information that the child was missing, the police and the civil security officials launched an operation to trace the missing girl.
During interrogation by the OIC of the station - IP Sujeewa Jayalath- Nayana had admitted striking and kicking the child for making rude remarks. The child is said to have fallen, hitting her head on a table.
When she did not revive, Nayana said she threw the child into the Kala Oya believing her to be dead.