Police in Hatton have launched a full-scale investigation following the discovery of an elderly couple murdered inside their shop in the Hatton-Dikoya town area.
The victims, both 82 years old according to NewsFirst, were a husband and wife who lived above and ran their small business at the location. Newswire described them as a 75-year-old woman and her 85-year-old husband and reported that they were found inside the premises where they lived alone.
Authorities said the couple’s children, who reside in Colombo, had been unable to reach their parents by phone and contacted neighbours to check on them. When neighbours opened the shop, they found the bodies of the couple bearing injuries consistent with a sharp-weapon attack.
Hatton Police are leading the investigation to identify suspects and establish the sequence of events leading to the double murder. No arrests have been reported at the time of writing, and police have not released a motive.
The killing comes a day after a 79-year-old woman was found murdered in a suitcase in Seeduwa, where a neighbour was subsequently arrested through CCTV footage — the latest in a sequence of violent crimes targeting elderly residents living alone.
The Hatton-Dikoya area, in the central highlands plantation belt, is one of the older urban settlements in Nuwara Eliya District and is home to many retired and elderly shopkeepers running family-owned businesses.
