Girl's death not caused by cyanide - JMO report

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 11:03 GMT]
District Judge for Mallakam, Wednesday ordered the Jaffna Police to investigate and submit a full report when the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital said in his report to court that the young woman, Valarmathy, admitted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) alive had no cyanide substance in her stomach, legal sources said. Meanwhile, the autopsy of the other girl, Tharshika Pathmanathan, whose body was handed over to the hospital by the SLA, is scheduled to be held Thursday in Jaffna Teaching Hospital to ascertain the cause of death whether she died due to cyanide poisoning or any other reason, medical sources said.

Both the girls, Valarmathy Kandiah, 24, who is alive and Tharsika Pathmanathan, 24, who was dead and handed over to Jaffna hospital by the SLA, were arrested by the SLA while they were cycling together along the Sabanayagam Road in Vatharavaththai-Avarankal in Valikamam East sector of Jaffna district, Monday evening.

SLA troopers claimed that the girls were arrested during the curfew hours and both of them had swallowed cyanide.

Valarmathy Kandiah of Tharavanaiyuttu, Varani who was admitted to the hospital alive by the SLA told the JMO what happened to her on Monday.

She said that she visited her brother's fiancée, Miss Tharshika Pathmanathan of Sabanayagam Road in Avarangal Monday and while they were cycling together along the road in the evening, the SLA had stopped both and threatened. She fainted as she had been suffering from epilepsy and did not know what happened to her brother's fiancée, legal sources said.

The JMO in his report to court had categorically denied any possibility of consumption of cyanide by Miss Valarmathy but she fainted due to her long time illness.

The Judge, Mrs. Sarojini Ilankovan, thereafter ordered the Police to investigate into the incident thoroughly and submit a report to the court, legal sources said.