Two men had drowned a toddler in a water barrel after failing in their attempt to sexually abuse the child’s mother.
The incident took place in Wallimathagama village in the Kataragama Police division.
The two men had reportedly thrown the two and a half-year-old girl into a water barrel after their attempt to molest the child’s mother failed.
The incident occurred while the father of the child, who is a fisherman, was away from home.
At the preliminary investigations by the police, it was revealed that the two unidentified men had tied the mother and child with ropes and dumped the child into a water barrel at the back of the house and fled.
After untangling herself, the mother had immediately informed her husband about the incident with the help of the neighbours. They later found the child floating in the water barrel and rushed her to the hospital. However, the child was pronounced dead upon admission. The Officer-in-Charge of the Crime Branch of the Kataragama Police Station along with the other officers has launched a special operation to apprehend the culprits.