When the case of the death of Muthuwadige Nimesh Sathsara in Welikada Police custody was taken up for hearing before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court number 4 on 30 of April, the Judicial Medical Officer informed the court that the deceased’s body had been exhumed and a post-mortem examination had been conducted.

Meanwhile, the Magistrate ordered five witnesses to be summoned to appear in court on May 16 to give evidence and ordered the case to be heard on that day.

The Magistrate, who considered the request made by the court through a motion by Nimish’s parents, who were not happy with the post-mortem conducted by the Mulleriyawa Hospital, to exhume Nimish’s body and conduct a fresh post-mortem examination, ordered that a panel of specialist doctors, including the Colombo Chief Judicial Magistrate to conduct the post-mortem and submit a report.

Following the order, the body of Nimish, who had been buried in the family cemetery in Meegahakivule, Badulla, was exhumed on April 23 and brought to Colombo, and a fresh post-mortem was conducted at the Colombo Forensic Medical Examiner’s Office on April 28. The Forensic Medical Examiner’s Office submitted a brief report of the  new post-mortem to the court today on 30 April. 

The Colombo Chief Judicial Medical Officer had told the deceased’s parents that it would take almost two months to determine how the deceased died, as Nimish’s body parts had been sent to the coroner.

On April 1 around 9.30 pm, Nimesh had forcibly entered a land on Sri Rathanajothi Mawatha in Nawala. When the owner of the property informed the police emergency call unit, the Welikada police arrived at the scene and arrested Nimesh. Nimesh was detained at the Welikada police station for almost two hours and was later admitted to the Mulleriyawa Mental Hospital on the grounds that he was mentally ill. Doctors at the hospital said that Nimesh was dead by the time he was brought to the hospital.