13 May 2026 :

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has upheld the death sentences imposed on four men convicted in the 2015 abduction, sexual assault and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vithya in Pungudutivu, Jaffna.
The ruling was delivered on May 6 by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, which dismissed the appeals filed by the convicted men, including the principal accused Mahalingam Shashikumar, widely known as “Swiss Kumar”.
The court thereby affirmed the sentences handed down by the Jaffna High Court Trial-at-Bar in 2017, which sentenced seven of the accused to death over the brutal killing that shocked the island and sparked widespread protests, hartals and demands for justice across the Tamil homeland.
However, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions and sentences imposed on two other accused, while another convicted individual had reportedly died during the protracted appeals process.
Vithya, an 18-year-old student at Pungudutivu Maha Vidyalayam, was abducted while returning home from school on May 13, 2015. Her body was later discovered in a secluded area of Pungudutivu. The killing triggered an outpouring of grief and anger throughout the North-East, prompting mass demonstrations and renewed calls for accountability and protection for Tamil women and girls.
Although Sri Lankan courts continue to issue death sentences, executions have not been carried out in the country since 1976. In practice, most death row prisoners remain incarcerated for life under Sri Lanka’s long-standing moratorium on executions.