Teenage wife released on bail for allegedly aiding husband's suicide

A 19-year-old wife arrested and produced before the court on charges of aiding and abetting the suicide of her twenty-year-old husband was ordered to be released on a cash bail of Rs. 5,000 and three personal bails of Rs. 1,000,000 each by Mahara Number 02 Court Additional Magistrate Bandara Ilangasinghe.

The court also issued an order that the residences of the sureties providing bail for the suspect must be verified. The young woman released on bail is a resident of Nissankamalla Mawatha, Puranagama, Giritale.

The individual who took his own life was U. G. Aruna Dilshan, a 20-year-old married youth who resided in the Keselpotha area, Mapakada Wewa, Mahiyanganaya, and worked at a private institution in the Biyagama Free Trade Zone.

Police Sergeant Douglas (48947) of the Biyagama Police Court Operations Division, representing the facts to the court, stated:

"Your Honor, the husband of this young couple is a resident of the Mahiyanganaya area. The wife is a resident of the Giritale area. Both of them work at the same institution in the Biyagama Free Trade Zone. Therefore, they stayed in a room in the Waduyegama area and went to work.

For this year's Sinhala New Year holidays, these two went to the wife's village, Giritale. After going there, the husband asked the wife to go to his village, Mahiyanganaya. At that time, the wife told the husband she would come the next day. Later, the husband went to Mahiyanganaya, but the wife did not go. Subsequently, the husband came to the room in Waduyegama where they stayed to go to work on the 19th. Although the wife said she was coming there, she did not arrive.

Later, the wife sent a photo of herself embracing another young man via a 'TikTok' account to the husband's mobile phone, stating 'I don't want you. I have someone.' The young man, distressed by this, committed suicide by hanging himself in the room.

Biyagama Inquirer into Sudden Deaths, Dr Harshajith Gunasekara, who conducted the death inquiry, concluded that this was a suicide. There, the wife refused to accept the husband's body. Later, the body was handed over to the husband's mother. She buried the body at the Weliweriya Public Cemetery.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the husband committed suicide after becoming distressed by the wife sending a photo taken with a paramour via 'TikTok.'

Therefore, this constitutes aiding and abetting suicide in another manner.

Accordingly, it is an abetment of suicide under Section 299 of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the wife is arrested and produced before the court."

The Additional Magistrate, considering the presented facts, released the wife on cash and personal bail. Further hearing was postponed until July 21. Following instructions from Biyagama Police Station OIC Chief Inspector Prabath Paranavitana, the arrested young woman was produced before the court by Police Sergeant Douglas (48947) and Police Constable Supun (103656) of the court operations division.