Image from Daily News lk
A schoolgirl died this week, after falling to death from the Lotus Tower in Colombo in what appears to be a suicide.
The female student, who was studying at an international school, plummeted to death in what police suspect is a suicide. The incident is believed to have been between 3.00pm and 4.00pm.
The student's name has not been released but she was identified to have been a resident of Kollupitiya and studying in Grade 11 of an international school in Colombo. Sri Lankan police state that the death is linked to the earlier suicides of two schoolmates at the Altair luxury apartment in Slave Island.
The Lotus Tower is reportedly the tallest tower in South Asia standing at 356-metres.
The state-owned project has been beset with accusations of corruption as one of the Chinese construction companies, Aerospace Long March International Trade Co. Ltd (ALIT), had reportedly disappeared along with Rs. 2 billion - worth more than $11 million.
The Lotus flower has been as a symbol of Sinhala Buddhist nationalist identity. According to a government released concept video about the tower;
“In Sri Lanka, the Buddhist kingdom, with great desire of peace and development the lotus is considered as the flower which symbolises pure, clean and honest.”
Read more here
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.