The Gampaha High Court has sentenced five individuals, including a mother, father, their two sons, and a family friend, to death after finding them guilty of a brutal murder and multiple attempted murders that took place in Attanagalla in 2001.
The judgment was delivered on Thursday (July 17) by Gampaha High Court Judge Rashmi Singappuli following the conclusion of a lengthy trial.
The convicted individuals, all residents of Welagedara in Attanagalla, were found guilty of forcibly entering a house in the Diyakawita area of the Nittambuwa Police Division on the night of October 31, 2001. According to court findings, the attackers assaulted the occupants with stones and wooden clubs before attacking them with swords.
The violent assault claimed the life of H. Nihal Kumara, an unmarried young man, while three other occupants of the house sustained serious injuries.
After hearing the evidence, the court ruled that the prosecution had proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Consequently, the High Court imposed the death sentence on all five convicted persons.
Although death sentences continue to be imposed by Sri Lankan courts, they are generally not carried out in practice, as the country has maintained a long-standing moratorium on executions.
