ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and four other police units are separately investigating the murder of a nine-year-old girl in Atalugama and a suspected has yet to be arrested, police said.
A postmortem was underway Monday (30) morning to determine the cause of death, the police media division told EconomyNext when contacted for an update on the investigations.
Fathima Ayesha of Atulugama went to buy chicken from the shop near her house last Friday (27) evening and never returned home. The nine-year-old’s body was found in a marshy land near her residence, 24 hours after a complaint was lodged with the local police.
CCTV footage showed Ayesha walking by the Atulugama junction before disappearing. Her parents had lodged the police complaint around 4.00pm, and by nightfall a post asking for public assistance to find the child had gone viral on social media.
Ayesha’s body was found the next day.
Twenty-two statements have been recorded thus far, but no suspects have been arrested yet, police said. (Colombo/May30/2022)
