The post-mortem examination into the recent triple death in Chilaw has revealed that the throats of the woman and her daughter had been slit before being set on fire.
The post-mortem examinations into the deaths of the 55-year-old man, his 44-year-old wife, and their 15-year-old daughter, were conducted at the Chilaw Teaching Hospital this afternoon.
The male victim had been engaged in land-related business, while his wife was an Economic Development Officer of the Munneswaram area attached to the Chillaw District Secretariat and their daughter was a Grade 10 school student.
Following reports of a fire at a two-storey house last morning, the Fire brigade had dispatched vehicles, by which time the ground floor had been destroyed by the fire.
As the doors and windows were locked along with the gate, there was no initial report of anyone inside the house or not. However, after dousing the fire, firefighters and area residents found three burnt bodies inside the house. After informing the Police, preliminary investigations found that three members of the same family had died in the fire.
The post-mortem examination of the woman had been conducted first, during which it was revealed that she had been stabbed 6 times with a sharp weapon on her neck. According to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), it is suspected that she had probably died on the night of October 18 due to excessive bleeding and the body was burnt the next day.
The post-mortem examination of the daughter found 02 cuts on the neck, and it is suspected that she was killed on the night of October 19.
Meanwhile, the JMO has given an open verdict following the post-mortem examination conducted into the death of the man.
Police investigations have found that the man had obtained loans from several persons prior to his death, while it was found that he had also requested his wife to allow the sale of a land belonging to her.
Further investigations have also found that gold jewellery worth Rs. 2.5 million had gone missing from the house two months ago, but there was no evidence of a break-in.
The Police state that as the couple had been continuously fighting over the two issues, it is suspected that the man may have murdered his wife and child, had later set fire to their bodies and then died by suicide. (Newswire)