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Kelaniya temple kidnapping :
Senuri found at Marawila
Rafik Jalaldeen and Sandasen Marasinghe
* Police arrest woman in trishaw
*Full probe into incident
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Little Senuri Mapalagama with her father Nalin Mapalagama,
mother Nilushi Shanika Dedigama and sister Chithrani Mapalagama.
Picture by Ranjith Jayaweera. |
Two and a half year old Senuri Mapalagama, who went missing Sunday
while at the Kelaniya Temple with her parents was found in Marawila
yesterday, 48 hours after her much publicised disappearance. Police
Spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said Senuri went missing on Sunday at
around 2.30 p.m.while her parents and grandmother were offering a bodhi
pooja.
Senuri and her elder sister had gone to offer flowers at the time at
another section of the temple. But only the sister returned. “The
missing girl was traced by police in the Marawila area along with a
woman in a trishaw,” he added.
The suspect and the trishaw were taken into custody. Meanwhile,
several police teams were deployed from the Kelaniya police to conduct a
thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the
disappearance of the girl which caused an outrage among the public.
Soon after the disappearance, Police issued a description of the girl
through the media. They initially took a woman into custody but it
transpired later that she had no connection with the incident. Senuri’s
father Nalin Mapalagama (36) is a lecturer at the German Technical
School and mother Nishuli Dedigamuwa (32) managed a pharmacy at the
Kirillawela junction.
Senuri was the apple of the eye of her parents and was doted on by
her grandfather who was being treated at the ICU of a private hospital
in Wattala. His attachment to Senuri was so great that he died on
hearing that she had been abducted. It was to invoke blessing for the
quick recovery of the grandfather that her parents participated in
religious observances at the Kelaniya Temple. |
