A man has been arrested by the Police in connection with the deaths of five members of the same family in a house fire that broke out in the upper part of the Ragala estate in the Ragala Police Division at around 10.30 pm on Thursday (07).
Police investigations have revealed that the suspect had been having an illicit affair with a 35-year-old woman who was burnt to death in the incident.
The woman’s husband had left her some time ago and the suspect had been having an affair with the woman but it has not been confirmed yet whether he had legally married her or not.
“After the incident, the suspect was arrested by the Police on information provided by the residents of the area.
A one-year-old boy’s birthday party was held at the house in the afternoon of the incident,” Police said.
The sole survivor from the fire ravaged house, the 26-year-old son of the deceased couple had been in a state of intoxication.
He has told Police that he had alcohol the previous day and had no clear memory of the house fire which killed all his close relatives.
The deceased have been identified as Ramaiah Thangaiya (59), his wife Sivanumuttu Lechchami (54), their daughter Jeyakumar Nadia (35) and two children.
“The two children who were burnt to death were two boys aged 1 and 11,” Police said.
“The house was completely destroyed by the fire and the bodies badly burnt.
The cause of the fire has not been revealed yet,” Ragala further Police said.
Walapane Magistrate R.T.S. Gunadasa arrived at the scene yesterday (08) and conducted a magisterial inquiry.
The Magistrate ordered that the bodies be sent to the Judicial Medical Officer of the Nuwara Eliya District Hospital for an autopsy and directed the Police to take necessary action to obtain an autopsy report.
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