The ruling was delivered by a five-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, which dismissed the appeals filed by the defendants seeking to be acquitted and released.
While the court upheld the sentences for four individuals, it ordered the acquittal and release of two other defendants involved in the appeal. During the delivery of the verdict, three of the condemned prisoners were produced before the court via Zoom technology to hear the final judgment on their legal challenge.
The case dates back to May 13, 2015, when Vidya, a student at Pungudutivu Mahavidyalaya, was abducted while returning home from school. The brutal nature of the gang rape and subsequent murder sparked nationwide outrage and mass protests, particularly in the Northern Province. Following an extensive investigation, the Attorney General filed charges against several suspects before a Jaffna High Court Trial-at-Bar.
In 2017, the Jaffna High Court Trial-at-Bar found seven defendants guilty and sentenced them to death. The convicts subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming they were innocent of the charges. It was noted during the appellate proceedings that one of the original appellants had passed away while in custody.
