A mortar kills
In studying Sri Lanka's criminal history, we hear about various cases and verdicts. Another popular case among them is the case of the murder of the wife of Mahadevan Sathasivam, who was once the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. This case was known among the public at that time as 'Mortar Kills'. The confusion in this case was the main reason for that.
⏬ Regina Sathasivam's mysterious death
On October 9, 1951, the dead body of Anandan Rajendra Sathasivam alias Regina Sathasivam was found in the garage of their home. It was suspected that this dead body was a murder at first sight and the main suspect of the murder was pointed at none other than her husband Mahadevan Sathasivam. There were several main reasons that affected it.
Satasivam couple gets married in 1940. They had been married for 10 years and they had 4 children from that marriage. At this time, both of them were quarreling, so they finally decided that it would be best to get a divorce. Mahadevan Sathasivam, who lived in England, arrived in Sri Lanka on 21 September 1951.
Regina Sathasivam's demand was that Mahadevan Sathasivam should move out of their house. Accordingly, Sathasivam, leaving the house, received the necessary documents regarding the divorce on October 8, 1951. Coming home with this, he left home on October 9. The fact that Regina Sathasivam was killed on October 9 added to the suspicion.
On the same day at around 5 pm, the police arrested Mahadevan Sathasivam who was staying at his friend's house on suspicion. Accordingly, Regina Sathasivam proceeded to file a case against her husband Mahadevan Sathasivam against the murder, and one of the most popular lawyers from Sri Lanka, Colvin R. De Silva, represented Sathasivam. He had also called Professor Sidney Smith from England for his assistance.
⏬ Government testimony of William Singo
At that time, there were two people working in the Satasivam house. There was a nanny who took care of the children and a young man named William Singho who did the housework. After this murder, William disappeared and the police were able to arrest him on October 18, 1951. Later, during the questioning of William Sinjo, the police got an important evidence and it was decided to make him a government witness.
According to the testimony of William Sinjo, Mahadevan Sathasivam told him that Regina Sathasivam was killed around 9 o'clock in the morning when Regina Sathasivam was killed and he supported it. William Singho stated that when he was holding Ms. Sathasivam's legs, Mahadevan Sathasivam strangled her to death and then gave him all the jewelry including the wedding ring and sent him away. His testimony also stated that he had no choice but to obey his master.
William Sinjo mentioned in his confession that he sold the gold goods brought to a shop at around 9.30 in the morning. Considering this evidence as very important, the police filed charges against Mahadevan Sathasivam based on it. Accordingly, the case was filed against Mahadevan Sathasivam on October 9, 1951 before 9.30 am for killing Regina Sathasivam. All these were based on the confession of William Sinjo.
⏬ Contradictory evidence
By this time, Mahadevan Sathasivam had examined the dead body and presented his evidence. Several people gave their testimonies for this and they can be noted as very important facts. The first is the post-mortem examination. Professor De Seram, who conducted the post-mortem examination, took into account the time taken for the temperature of the dead body to change, the time the dead body was stiff, and the time the food had passed through the alimentary canal, etc., and concluded that the death occurred between 10 and 11:30 am .
Meanwhile, the testimony of a taxi driver who joined was that he went to the bungalow to fetch Mahadevan Sathasivam that day and he stated that when he took Mahadevan Sathasivam from the bungalow to the taxi, the time was around 10:35 in the morning. The witness also stated that at this moment he saw Regina Sathasivam at the door of the house. According to that testimony, she has been living between 10:35 am. The testimony of Mahadevan Sathasivam's legal counsel's son was that he was quite sure that she made a phone call that morning between 12 noon and 10:30 am.
Professor Sidney Smith, who continued the investigation, made a wonderful request. On the same day, three young men who were to be hanged at the same time were to be stripped of their clothes and the petticoats and sarees (clothes that Regina Satasivam wore at the end) were to be placed in the same environment as the garage where the bodies were found. Before the autopsy, Regina Sathasivam's body temperature had dropped by 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
The corpses of the three young men who were buried in this way were subjected to a temperature test every half hour and it took 7 hours for the temperature of the corpses to change by 5.2 degrees. Professor De Seram conducted the autopsy at around 6 pm, so it was clear that the death had taken place between 11-12 am. The testimony of the nanny of the house was that Regina Sathasivam had eaten at around 8.15 in the morning. Food in her alimentary tract
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