The Vavuniya High Court has sentenced former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Lalith Jayasinghe to four years of rigorous imprisonment for releasing a suspect in connection with the murder of schoolgirl S. Vidya in Punguduthivu in 2015.

Judge M.M. Mihar also imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on Jayasinghe. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional six months of imprisonment.

Sivaloganathan Vidya, an 18-year-old schoolgirl from Punkudutivu, was abducted, gang-raped and murdered in Jaffna on May 13, 2015, while returning home from school. Residents arrested the main suspect, ‘Swiss Kumar,’ and handed him over to the police.

Jayasinghe, who was arrested on July 15, 2017, by the Criminal Investigation Department, was found guilty of aiding the suspect’s escape while in custody.

The High Court judge ruled that the prosecution had proven the allegations beyond reasonable doubts.

In addition, the judge ordered the issuing of open warrants on Sri Gajan, a former Sub-Inspector of the Crime Investigation Division of the Kytes Police, who was also an accused in the case.