The murder of six people in Ottawa, Canada, has now become a matter of world attention. While such mass killings are considered rare in Ottawa, a city of one million people, Canadian authorities say this is the worst mass killing in the capital of Canada in modern history.
With this murder, the people of that area are also scared. Condemning the massacre, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his concern for the deceased Sri Lankan family members. They are a family that migrated to Canada from Polgahawela area of Sri Lanka.
At 11 pm, the lights go out, darkening Ottawa
A group of a Sri Lankan family was murdered in Ottawa. A 19-year-old Sri Lankan has also been arrested for the murder. This mass killing takes place in Barrhaven, a suburb of Ottawa, Canada. In this incident, which took place in a house where a Sri Lankan family lived, the mother, four children and another member of the family became victims.
The police have announced that the murders took place before 11 pm Canadian time. It has also been revealed during the investigation that the 35-year-old mother, the four children and two other Sri Lankans who were living with them were in the house and that the 38-year-old father of the children, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, escaped from the murderer.
How father escaped in seconds
The father, who is currently in the hospital, said that someone attacked him as soon as he entered the house and that he could not identify the person who attacked him at the time due to the darkness. However, he has said that he was able to identify later that he was attacked by Sri Lankan Frank de Soyza, who lived with them at home.
According to the Canadian police report, the surviving father said that he later found out his hands were stained with blood, and he was also attacked with a sharp weapon. He mentioned that he grabbed the knife from Frank’s hand and immediately ran out of the house and shouted for help. Ottawa police say they began an investigation following a 911 call.
The Ottawa police officers who arrived at the scene took steps to hospitalise the injured Dhanushka. At the same time, his wife, children and a family friend were already dead in the house, Canadian police said.
The horrific scene explained by the Ottawa police
Police Chief Eric Stubbs, who is in charge of the investigation, said that despite the maximum speed, no lives could be saved. However, he mentioned that the suspect had been identified and was immediately arrested. When the officers entered the house and conducted inspections, they found 06 dead bodies, including 04 children.
This family has recently migrated to Canada
The deceased family members were very recent arrivals to Canada. According to the Canadian police, the 35-year-old mother Darshani Dilanthika Ekanayake, 07-year-old Inuka Wickramasinghe, 04-year-old Ashwini Wickramasinghe, 2-year-old Rinyana Wickramasinghe and 02-month-old Kelly Wickramasinghe had died.
Also 40-year-old Gamini Amarakon, a close member of the Wickramasinghe family, have been killed. They died in the incident. Also, the birthday of two-year-old Rinyana Wickramasinghe, who has been killed, is on the first of this month.
The suspected 19-year-old Sri Lankan student is a violent person
A 19-year-old student named Frank de Soyza, who was studying in Canada, is accused of the murder, and Canadian security forces have managed to arrest him in the same house where the murder took place.
He was presented to the court on the 7th and will be presented to the court again on the 14th, the police said. Also, steps have been taken to arrest the suspect under charges of murder and attempted murder. However, the reasons for these murders have not been revealed so far.
It is a matter that has been revealed in preliminary investigations that the concerned young suspect is also a Sri Lankan, that he lived in a house belonging to another Sri Lankan family before coming to live with the Wickramasinghe family, and that he was a violent person who was very addicted to video games.
As per the request of the residents, he has to move to another place, and after that, he gets accommodation in Dhanushka’s house.
Meanwhile, Venerable Nugegalaya’s Jinananda Thero, who resides in Ottawa, has also given special attention to this incident. He requests that parents be keen to pay attention to their children going abroad for education.
The lamentation of the dead woman’s mother
Jayanthi Ekanayake, the mother of the murdered woman, had commented to the media regarding the loss of her daughter and her children. She said:
“My daughter has just started living well with four children. Lived happily with her husband. We were also delighted. Oh, my girl… something happened to my child who lived with Buddha’s teachings… what must have been thought at that time… little children. Oh God… I don’t want any house, mother… give it all to my brother… said My daughter always says… We were here today, gone tomorrow. My daughter always said that… We will die. I can’t tell you, mother… she said over and over… Oh God, who would have thought that something like this would happen”… she said with tears in her eyes.
Conclusion
At this moment, the proper facts related to this incident have not been revealed. Investigations will reveal the chain of events behind this incident. However, this does not seem to be an isolated incident. Not everyone who moves abroad is happy. Many people go for that because of the problems in Sri Lanka.
Renting out rooms in one’s home often happens due to economic issues. It can be thought that it was an unfortunate incident due to giving priority to personal friendship in those cases. It needs to be clear what kind of relationship the young man had with the residents. For now, we can only see the surface.
According to the report, this young man has been evicted from his previous home. It is said that the reason is because of the pressure that the residents had from him. The deceased family will give the residence of the young man sent away from the previous house. The householders know very well what the reason is.
Unfortunately, only one person is lucky enough to survive. Therefore, only that person and the murderous youth know the truth. Besides, their friends may know the truth to some extent. However, it is unfortunate to witness such incidents. This event may also be followed by a tragic event or chain of events. It is worth waiting to see what the police investigations reveal.
