A death row inmate convicted in the high-profile abduction, gang rape, and murder of Jaffna schoolgirl Sivalloganathan Vidya has reportedly died by suicide while in custody at the Jaffna Prison.

The deceased was identified as 46-year-old Poobalasingham Jeyakumar, who had been serving a death sentence in connection with the 2015 murder that triggered widespread public outrage across the country.

According to the Police, the inmate had taken his own life on the night of 24 May while being held at the prison. The Prisons Department also confirmed the death, stating that the incident had occurred inside the Jaffna Prison premises.

Police said that further investigations are underway into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Jeyakumar was among several accused convicted over the abduction, gang rape, and murder of the 18-year-old schoolgirl in Punkudutivu, Jaffna, in May 2015.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the death sentences imposed on four accused, including the main suspect known by the alias “Swiss Kumar”, after dismissing their appeals seeking acquittal and release.

The judgment was delivered on 6 May by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena.

The Court upheld the death sentences handed down by a three-judge Trial-at-Bar of the High Court against four defendants, including Jeyakumar, while acquitting two others by removing their death sentences.

At the time the Supreme Court judgment was delivered, three of the accused sentenced to death, including Jeyakumar, had appeared before the Court proceedings via Zoom from prison custody.

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