By A.J.A. Abeynayake and Norman Palihawadane

MP Rishad Bathiudeen was named yesterday as the fifth suspect in the cases filed over the death of 16-year-old Jude Kumar Ishalini, a domestic aide who died of burn injuries while being employed at Bathiudeen’s residence in Colombo.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya, after considering a request made by Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, appearing for the Colombo Crimes Division, permitted the AG’s Department to name MP Bathiudeen as the fifth suspect and ordered Prison authorities to present the MP in court on 06 Sept.

The Judge also ordered that three other suspects, including Bathiudeen’s wife Shehabdeen Ayesha, her father Mohammed Shiabdeen and broker Ponnaiah Pandaram alias Shankar who is said to have trafficked the girl for domestic work to be remanded till 06 Sept.

Deputy Solicitor General Peiris informed the court that there was evidence that MP Bathiudeen had attempted to suppress evidence pertaining to the crime.

He said that as per the reports of the second post-mortem by three doctors Ishalini had been subjected to sexual abuse for a long period of time.

The Deputy Solicitor General said that the attempts by the MP and other suspects to suppress evidence created serious doubt that the death of Ishalini could have been a murder.

He said that Borella OIC had made a report quoting the JMO who conducted the first post-mortem that Ishalini as having told him that she set herself on fire and the JMO reported that she had not been sexually abused. These contradictions showed that some officials had attempted to suppress the truth and the report on the first post mortem created serious doubts. The JMO doctor who had made the report to the effect that Ishalini admitted to setting herself on fire had since left the country, the Deputy Solicitor General told the Court adding that a female doctor, nurses and other staff at the hospital had been asking for nearly three hours from Ishalini the cause of fire but the victim had not made a conclusive statement.

The Deputy Solicitor General said that there was a serious doubt whether Ishalini had been burnt using gas at a separate place and later brought to her room.