Dentist ends life in Wellawaya

A Government hospital dentist residing in Handapanagala, Wellawaya hanged himself at his home on August 3 and died, Moneragala Police said. The deceased Sahan Kaushal Ratnayake (42), was a dentist at the Badulla Provincial Hospital. He is a father of two and lived in a rented house near the Wellawaya fuel station in Monaragala. According to police, on August 3, he drove off home with his two children and his wife to go to the Badulla General Hospital. The wife, who is a nurse, was dropped off near the Moneragala Hospital and the two children were dropped off near Mahanama College, Moneragala.

Their domestic came home around 12.45 p.m. to their house and saw that the doctor’s car was near the house and the doors of the house were closed. She called the doctor, but he did not respond, so the doctor’s wife was informed by a phone call. Accordingly, the wife came home and when she opened a window of the house, she saw the doctor hanging from the ceiling of the living room.

Police found a letter written by the doctor on the table in the house, in which he stated that no one was responsible for his death. The deceased doctor worked at the Moneragala District General Hospital before this and he was famous as a social worker.

Moneragala coroner Sumanasiri Gunathilaka conducted the inquest into the doctor’s death and the postmortem examination was conducted by Nisansala Lakmali, the specialist forensic medical officer at Monaragala District General Hospital. According to the evidence obtained during the investigation and the post-mortem report, the coroner decided that the death was a suicide by hanging.