By: Isuru Parakrama
April 24, Colombo (LNW): A Colombo High Court has handed down a death sentence to a man found guilty of the chilling 2015 murder of a woman, whose body was infamously discovered packed into a suitcase near the Bastian Mawatha Bus Station—an incident that sent ripples of horror across the country nearly a decade ago.
Presiding over the case, High Court Judge Aditya Patabendige found the accused, Patrick Krishnaraja, guilty of the murder of Dharmaraja Karthika, following a trial that laid bare disturbing details of the crime.
The killing occurred on July 29, 2015 at a lodge located on Sea Street in Colombo 11, a neighbourhood known for its commercial activity and transient lodgers.
The victim’s body was later discovered in a suitcase abandoned near one of Colombo’s busiest bus terminals—a discovery that prompted national outrage and media frenzy at the time, not only due to the brutality of the act but also the heartless manner in which the corpse was discarded.
Krishnaraja had been indicted by the Attorney General under several charges, including murder and the unlawful concealment of a body. The prosecution, over the course of the trial, presented compelling forensic evidence, witness testimonies, and circumstantial details that ultimately convinced the court of the defendant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Despite the accused addressing the court and continuing to assert his innocence, the judge determined that the evidence was irrefutable. In delivering his final remarks, Judge Patabendige stressed the egregious nature of the offence, noting that the calculated and brutal execution of the act, followed by an attempt to dispose of the body in a public location, left no room for leniency.
He further noted that the crime bore all the hallmarks of premeditation and showed a disturbing disregard for human dignity, leaving a lasting impact not only on the victim’s family but on the public psyche.
The sentence, he said, was reflective of the severity of the crime and the need for justice to be visibly and firmly upheld.
