Govt. Analyst’s findings reveal Dutch monk committed suicide

by Suresh Perera

The mysterious death of Ven. Olande Jinarathana Thera was finally unraveled last week with the Government Analyst determining that the Dutch monk had committed suicide.

There were no toxic substances found in his body, a senior official said. “The final toxicology report ruled out death due to poisoning”.

The bhikku’s stomach contents were examined for traces of chloroform, drugs or any other toxic substances in his blood, but there was none, he noted.

“Coupled with the two earlier reports, it can now be conclusively established that the monk took his own life”, the official said.

Government Analyst Department officers visited the Polgasduwa island hermitage at the time and examined the Dutch monk’s hut, the piece of rope and the stone found tied to one of his legs.

There was speculation that the bhikku was killed after his body was fished out of the Ratgama lagoon in early December last year.

Claims that the foreign monk was killed and his body thrown to the lagoon have been proven baseless as the outcome of the toxicology report points to suicide, the official stressed.

Moreover, there was no tangible reason to have killed a monk in a hermitage, who had no property, money or wealth, he remarked.

He said that during the on-site investigation, it came to light that the bhikku lived in morbid fear of the possibility of contracting Covid-19 as he went around begging for alms and could infect others.

The monk was basically a loner who kept to himself. However, to the selected few he associated with, he had spoken of the Corona threat and his concern for devotees who offered alms to him, the official said.

There were also claims that the bhikku was in a disturbed state of mind after the Covid-19 outbreak over the safety of others in case he was infected, he asserted.

A special police team, which investigated the death of the monk, earlier surmised that he had committed suicide. The autopsy also revealed there was no sand in his lungs, which indicated that he had been alive at the time he was in the lagoon.

Investigations were conducted under the direction of senior DIG Rohan Silva in charge of the Southern province.