The killing of Padmini Kularatne shook Galle Fort...
Rampart Hotel in Galle Fort today is Samudrasiri's house. Rampart Hotel is a place that attracts tourists very highly in the tourism industry. But the story here takes us many years into the past and once upon a time, Padmini Kularatne's murder was controversially echoed in the whole country. This is the story of Padmini Kularatne, a beautiful mother of four who died in a fire in the corner of the first floor of this hotel in 1967. Sundara Galle was located near the sea screen.
Doctor Kularatne and his wife lived here at that time. Doctor Kularatne and his wife had a son named Damon Gamini Kularatne. Damon, who was very good at learning, followed his father and became a doctor. In the early stages of his career, Dr. Damon Kularatne, who worked in areas such as Kekirawa and Anuradhapura, later came to his home province of Galle. Damon, who belongs to a wealthy family, became popular among the people of Galle. became more and more rich with Due to his extremely busy life, there was no chance of finding a suitable partner for marriage even when he reached the right age. Damon, who was a very submissive and obedient son to his mother, likes a marriage proposal brought by his mother. The bride was C. who was a rich man who lived in Kalutara. e. Susila Padmini Perera, the youngest daughter of Perera, was a very beautiful young woman. She had done Zip Satara from Holy Family Convent and Colombo Buddhist Women's College. Accordingly,
Damon and Padmini got married on September 28, 1947. Accordingly, they are parents of four children. By the 1960s, Dr. Kularatne had left government service and started a private dispensary. In the beginning, not so many patients came there, but as word spread that Dr. Kularatne treats patients well, the number of patients coming to the dispensary increased. Therefore, Dr. Kularathne arranged to publish a newspaper advertisement to find someone to work in the dispensary. Ariavathy, a very beautiful young woman, came to work at Dr. Kularatne's dispensary through the newspaper ad that was published. He also started addressing her as 'Arya' and 'Aree'. One day, when Padmini suddenly went to the dispensary, Padmini was very disappointed and angry to see Dr. Kularathne and Ariyavathi standing closer. Padmini lashed out at Aryavathy, calling her a woman who "disrupts families". After that incident, there were frequent conflicts between the Kularatne couple. Somehow, the dispute starts to escalate. Damon's mother takes Ariyavati's side and Padmini is left alone. At the end Damin and the family get together and say that Padmini has a mental illness and arrange to send her to Angoda. Later, Padmini's sister prevents it with the presence of another doctor. After that, Dr. Kularatne arranges to keep his wife locked in the room. Later, he and his mother plan to divorce Padmini. This son and mother decide to limit the giving and forbid the children to go to the room. The food was sent upstairs in a basket tied with a rope. On the afternoon of April 9, 1967, as usual, food was sent to Padmini in a cane basket. After eating that food, Padmini started vomiting and diarrhea continuously. Due to unbearable abdominal pain, Padmini called her sister on the phone and asked for help. The servants in the house called Dr. Kularatne on the phone and informed about the incident, but he did not care about it. When Padmini's sister came home, Padmini was closing her eyes forever. After reporting the incident, the Galle police officers came to Samudrasiri. The plate and vomit sections were examined. Post-mortem examination of the body revealed that Padmini died due to asphyxiation and severe damage to her stomach. Further tests revealed that Padmini Kularatne had potassium arsenate in her body. At the same time, Damon Kularatne's dispensary was inspected as well as Samudrasiri.
Due to the discovery of 2 bottles of potassium arsenic in Dr. Kularatne's possession, the doctor, his mother, and the two maids were arrested. Even though the crimes of poisoning and killing were widely reported in Western countries, Sri Lankans until the 1960s Such crimes have hardly been reported in the history of crime. The murder of Padmini Kularatne, which happened at such a time, is unique because it is the first arsenic poisoning case recorded in the legal history of Sri Lanka. On the afternoon of Padmini's death, there was bill pickle in the rice plate given to her. It was suspected that she might have been poisoned through this bill pickle. It had been given by the maid Sopia. During the trial related to Padmini's murder, Dr. Kularatne, his mother, and a maid named Sopia had given it to her. He is accused of poisoning. With the testimony of Achini, a daughter of the Kularatne couple, and with the help of other evidence, these three are sentenced to death.
However, due to their appeal, the case will be re-heard. The three of them are able to escape from the gallows due to some careless methods shown during the investigation of the first case. Was Padmini Kularatna poisoned and killed? Or whether she committed suicide will remain a mystery forever. The doubt whether she was given a cover or she could not bear the pressure and committed suicide by taking poison has not been resolved even today.
Dayananda Jayawardenean recreated this event as a telenovela in the 90s. It is called Himagiri Arana.
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