Aug 5 (NIA) – A Sri Lanka high court in the country’s central hills of Nuwera Eliya, on Friday sentenced seven members from the same family to death over a murder committed 16 years ago.
The suspects had been charged over the assault and murder of a resident of Venture Estate in Nuwara Eliya in July, 2000. High Court Judge Lalith Ekanayake also imposed a fine on the defendants.
Although death sentences have been handed down continuously by the High and Supreme Courts for murder and drug trafficking convictions, these sentences have been automatically commuted to life in prison.
Capital punishment in a legal penalty in the tropical island but there have been no executions since 23 June 1976.