The death of Attorney-at-Law Dushmanthi Abeyratne from Ratnapura a few days ago still remains a mystery.
Though initially it was thought the death may have occurred after a physical assault by her husband, the post-mortem carried out by forensic expert Dr. Sisira Kumara Dissanayake of the Kahawatta Base Hospital found no evidence of any attack on her body.
While Dissanayake has forwarded several parts of her body for further analysis to the Government Analyst, the mystery remains on the cause of death as the results of the tests continue to be pending.
Abeyratne, a resident of Pelmadulla, Bulathwelgoda was 40 at the time of her death. A graduate of the Colombo University Law Faculty and the Sri Lanka Law College, she practised in Pelmadulla and Ratnapura Courts and was a popular figure in the legal community. She was also a company secretary.
Domestic help
She was found motionless on her bed by her domestic help on the morning of March 31. On the day the domestic aide arrived around 6.15 a.m. and found the door unlocked as usual. The domestic, identified as Anoma, told the police that she had peeped into the room after her arrival for work but saw her employer fast asleep. Normally Anoma would get a “Good Morning” greeting from her employer, but there was no sound. She had then proceeded to the kitchen to commence work for the day.
With a cup of tea in hand, Anoma had returned to Abeyratne’s room but received no response to her calls. Anoma told the police she then touched Abeyratne’s foot and found it stone cold. The woman had alerted the neighbours who had called for a 1990 Suwasariya ambulance. The ambulance staff had checked Abeyratne and confirmed that she had died. The Pelmadulla police were then informed of the incident.
Abeyratne had studied in a school in Panakada before entering the University of Colombo. She had split from her first husband before marrying her current husband Mahesh Asanka who she met on Facebook around three years ago. She had no children from either marriage. Asanka was earlier employed in South Korea but had come back to Sri Lanka after his work contract expired.
Many disagreements
Investigations have found that the couple had many disagreements in recent times leading to her family believing he may have played a part in her untimely demise. However, despite claims of Asanka having attacked or assaulted Abeyratne the day before, he remains free as the post-mortem found no evidence of such an assault on her. According to the police investigations, the disagreements between the duo had occurred due to misunderstandings over their chosen careers and lifestyles. Asanka was outgoing in nature and often spent time with his friends at all times of the day to the annoyance of Abeyratne. The arguments between the couple had come to a head on March 30 when the duo had attended a dinner at the house of a relative living in New Zealand who had come here on holiday.
Although the couple owned a car, Asanka used the motorcycle for short journeys. On the way back during the motorcycle ride, Abeyratne had argued with Asanka on why the latter consumed alcohol during the dinner.
The fight had continued at home where Asanka had asked Abeyratne to leave the marital home the very next day. The argument between the couple had only ended when Asanka had left the house around 11 p.m.
Abeyratne had attempted to call her husband around 30 minutes later but her calls had gone unanswered.
Around 1.20 a.m. Abeyratne had sent several text messages to her sister, a pharmacist who lived in the same area. One claimed Asanka had assaulted her, while the other two messages asked the sister to take everything belonging to Abeyratne and mentioned the bank the vehicle owned by Abeyratne was leased from.
Sister
The sister had only seen the messages after hearing of Abeyratne’s sudden death. This has led police to ascertain that Abeyratne had been alive at least until 1.20 a.m. that day.
Giving a statement to the police, Asanka had refuted claims that he assaulted his wife.
He had said following the fight he had gone to the house of a friend who was conducting a religious ceremony and remained there till the next morning.
Investigations have also found that Abeyratne was a severe diabetic and had a violent temper. It is believed that Abeyratne had also sought psychiatric help on several occasions. Investigations are now looking into the possibility of Abeyratne having caused her own death by taking an overdose of her diabetic medication leading to more forensic analysis tests being ordered to ascertain the actual cause of death.
Further investigations are being conducted by a police team led by Pelmadulla OIC Dhammika Navaratne.