Murder of K. Tharshan

Kugathas Tharshan (died 25 January 2016; also spelt Kugadas Darshan) was a 6 year old Sri Lankan Tamil boy who was raped and murdered near the Sampur High Security Zone in eastern Sri Lanka in January 2016.[1]

K. Tharshan
Died (aged 6)
Sampur, Sri Lanka
Known forMurder victim

Background

Tharshan's family resettled in Sampur in 2015. He had enrolled at Sampur Maha Vidyalayam in the first grade, in January 2016.[2][3][4] Eyewitnesses had seen Sri Lanka Navy personnel from a nearby sentry point grooming Tharshan with chocolates and other food.[2][4][5]

Incident

On 25 January 2016 Tharshan had been playing with his brother and another boy.[3][6] Later Tharshan's father Selvaratnam Kugathas had seen him playing in front of their home.[4] He then disappeared.[4] Tharshan's mother Kugathas Jeyavani went to find him but could not locate him.[3][4][6] He was reported missing at around 5:30 p.m.[2][7] Locals started searching for him and discovered his body in an abandoned well, approximately 30 m (98 ft) from his house, near the "Vidura" navy camp.[2][3][4][7] Locals initially thought that Tharshan had slipped and fell into the well.[3][8] Coroner A. J. A. Noorullah arrived at the scene after a while and instructed a person to retrieve the body.[3][4][8][9] When the body was recovered from the well at around midnight ,it was discovered that Tharshan's body had been tied to a stone weighing more than 3 kg (6.6 lb), using shoe laces before being thrown into the well.[4][10][11][12] According to locals there were signs that Tharshan had been sexually abused before being murdered.[2][4][5][7]

Tharshan's body was sent to Trincomalee Hospital for a post-mortem.[8][13] According to Judicial Medical Officer W. R. A. S. Rajapakshe the preliminary post-mortem has revealed that Tharshan died of drowning.[4] Rajapakshe's report was submitted to Muttur Magistrate I. N. Rilwan for further investigation.[4] The police returned Tharshan's body to his family following the post-mortem.[14] According to the police there were no signs of sexual assault.[14]

Investigation

A fifteen-year-old boy was arrested on 2 February 2016 in connection with the murder.[15][16] However, locals have alleged that navy personnel were responsible for raping and murdering Tharshan and that the police were protecting them.[4][14]

See also

References
  1. "Six year old boy sexually assaulted and murdered in Sampur: suspicion fall on the Navy". Tamil Diplomat. 27 January 2016.
  2. "6-year-old Tamil boy brutally raped and killed near genocidal SL Navy Camp in Champoor". TamilNet. 26 January 2016.
  3. "Dead body of a young boy tied with stone retrieved from a well in Jaffna! – Who are brutal killers?". Tamil CNN. 26 January 2016.
  4. Thambiah, Mirudhula (2 February 2016). "Was child molested before drowning?". Ceylon Today. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016.
  5. "Villagers fear boy was molested before death". Ceylon Today. 29 January 2016.
  6. "Probe into 6-year-old's body found from well: No arrests made". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 29 January 2016.
  7. "Six year old Tamil boy raped and murdered in Sampur". Tamil Guardian. 26 January 2016.
  8. "Body of child found in a Sampoor well". Ceylon Today. 28 January 2016.
  9. Santiago, Melanie (27 January 2016). "Police probe Ingiriya, Padukka, Muttur killings". News First.
  10. "Child Roped In A Stone and Thrown Into A Well". Hiru News. 26 January 2016.
  11. "Body of a 6 year old found inside a well in Sampur". newsradio.lk. 26 January 2016.
  12. Ranwala, Madura (27 January 2016). "Boy dumped into well". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  13. "Six-year-old's body found in abandoned well". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 28 January 2016.
  14. "SL police shields military culprits of rape in East". TamilNet. 27 January 2016.
  15. "Teenager arrested over killing boy (6)". The Island (Sri Lanka). 3 February 2016.
  16. "Teenager arrested in connection with Sampur murder". Ceylon Today. 3 February 2016.
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