Funeral director remanded

Asela Kuruluwansa and Sanjaya Mathurata

The suspect funeral director who allegedly attempted to cremate two corpses in a single coffin at Pilimatalawa stated yesterday that he put the remains of both deceased in one coffin to minimize the cost.

He made this observation before Kandy Magistrate Lalith Ekanayake when he was produced by the Kadugannawa Police.

He also stated before the Court that the parents of the infant, in Vavuniya handed over the remains of the infant to conduct the funeral and left. He also submitted a copy of the death certificate of the six month old infant named K Lakshan. The Police pleaded before the Court the necessity to find out if the parents whose names are noted in the death certificate were the genuine parents of the child by a DNA test.

The Court delivered an open verdict on the death of the infant as a clear cause of the death could not be reached. The operator at the Arambegama crematorium had observed there was an infant’s remains in a coffin with the remains of an elderly woman last Saturday. He had later informed the matter to the Kadugannawa Police.

The Magistrate ordered that the suspect be remanded until January 24.