Mel Gunasekara’s murderer sentenced to death

The Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced the killer of senior journalist Mel Gunasekara to death.

She was killed at her residence in Battaramulla on 2 February 2014. High Court Judge Piyasena Ranasinghe observed that the case against the accused was proven beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution and imposed the death sentence on the convict.

The convict was further given 30 years’ rigorous imprisonment with an additional fine of Rs. 30,000 for trespassing and housebreaking.

Deputy Solicitor General Shanil Kularatne, who led the prosecution’s case during the trial, told the Court that through the circumstantial evidence placed before the Court the prosecution had established that the convict had committed murder with the intention of robbing the victim.

He said that Gunasekara was stabbed over 50 times in her neck therefore the convict’s actions cannot be considered a decision made on the spur of the moment and asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed against the convict. He said that this would serve as a lesson.

Assigned Attorney at Law Aruna Pathirana Arachchi in his address to Court pleaded to reduce the convict’s sentence because he was a father of four and the sole breadwinner of his family.

The AG had filed indictments against the accused Anthony Russan George, a painter by profession, on the three counts of trespassing, robbery and murder.