Was it a death caused by lightning while using a mobile phone or was there foul play?
This is what investigators and family members are trying to ascertain, following the mysterious death of a 28-year-old man at Ambagaspitiya in Yakkala.
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| The victim |
Mahesh Madawa died on April 20 when lightning struck close to his house. He was trying to answer a telephone call on his mobile phone. But the body bore no evidence to indicate that he was struck by lightning. However, there was blood in the room, where Mr. Madawa was, when lightning struck. His family members said they suspected foul play.
Sudden deaths inquirer R.P.A.A. Rajapaksha has returned an open verdict with the Gampaha Assistant Judicial Medical Officer A.K.A. Wijewickrema ordering that the organs of the dead man be sent to the Government Analyst’s Department for a report.
Investigations reveal that Mr. Madawa was about to take up a job in Singapore. His aim was to build a house for himself so that his brother could own the house where he was living with his grandmother. It was his grandmother who had brought them up since his mother abandoned them to marry another person. Mr. Madawa’s father died before he was born.
Premawathi Adhikari, Mr. Madawa’s grandmother, told the Sunday Times: “It was raining heavily on that day with thunder and lightning. Madawa asked me to prepare kos curry, his favourtie. Since I loved him so much, I often obliged. I kept his lunch on the table. Then his mobile phone rang. I told him not to answer the phone because there was lightning.
“But he quietly went into a small room in the rear part of the house to answer the phone call. Then suddenly there was a flash of lightning, followed by a huge thunder clap. I was in a shock for a while. I called for Madawa many times but there was no reply from the room. I went to the room and found him huddled in the corner. He had vomited and blood was pouring out of his mouth.”
Ms. Adhikari said she rushed him to the Gampaha hospital, but it was too late to save his life.
Neither at the inquiry conducted by the inquirer into sudden deaths nor investigations by the Judicial Medical Officer could determine the cause of death, although the talk in the neighbourhood was that Mr. Madawa died after lightning struck him.
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| The place where the body was found. Pix by M.D. Nissanka |
Mr. Madawa’s brother, Arampath, who was married and living in another house, said his brother had some problem in his previous workplace and there were several missed calls on his brother’s phone. He said Mr. Madawa’s phone was found in the garden outside the room and they handed it over to the police together with his second phone.
Investigators said the phones were in working condition. Neither the phones nor the room bore any sign of a lightning strike, they said adding that they were awaiting the autopsy report and the Government Analyst’s report to carry forward their investigations.
(Additional reporting by Tharidu Jayawardena) |
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