Kondayā, Raised To The Status Of Mysterious Criminal
By Basil Fernando –April 25, 2016
Basil Fernando
The name Kondaya is now a household name, following the tragic Sadewmicase, the abduction, rape and murder of a little girl of around 4 years. Discovery of the dead body led to an uproar not only in her village and the neighbouring villages but throughoutthecountry. There was a demand for immediate inquiries and for prosecution and also for vengeance.
As usual the local police failed to make any arrests for some time and instead began to float stories that were reported in the media, and various people were named as possible suspects. The first was the father and the grandfather in the same family, who happen to be the males in the house.
So, simply because they were male, the police developed a suspicion that they might have done this, and before any evidence was collected, their suspicion was transmitted to the media and the media gave it to the whole nation. These days it is not only the whole nation; because of social media and the Internet, it was also discussed in the Sri Lankan circles outside Sri Lanka.
The arrests were made, and later the “suspects” were found to have nothing to do with the crimes relating to the little girls abduction, rape, and murder and they were released.
The next suspect was a young boy, who happened to have a computer and Internetfacilities, and on that basis he was suspected as the possible culprit. Again, the police suspicion was taken as fact and proof, and theinformation was leaked to the media, and again the same kind of publicity greeted the local village, the country, and the Sri Lankan circles abroad.
In the case of Kondaya, the DNA results have themselves proven and confirmed and he was positively identified as the person who could have not committed this crime. And so, the boy was also released, after many days in custody, and after being tortured.
