A former EPDP member has been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl.

As well as the death sentence for murder, Kanthasamy Jegatheeswaran was also sentenced to twenty years rigorous imprisonment for rape and sexual torture, and ordered to pay 10 lakh rupees to the victim’s parents by Jaffna High Court judge M. Ilancheliyan.

Laksini Jesuthas, aged 12 at the time, was raped and murdered in Neduntheevu (Delft Island) on the 3rd of March, 2012.

The case was noted for its extensive use of forensic and genetic evidence at trial, in the absence of eyewitness testimonies.

Families of the disappeared have been protesting for 49 days in Kilinochchi.

Sri Lanka is currently negotiating a joint venture with India to redevelop the oil tank facility in Trincomalee. 

"We are currently negotiating the specifics of the joint venture," Sri Lanka's Petroleum Minister Chandima Weerakkody was quoted by The Hindu as saying. 

An agreement is hoped to be acheived before India's prime minister Narendra Modi's second visit to Sri Lanka in May. 

Malaysia's public prosecutor is filing an appeal seeking a more severe punishment for the activist, Lena Hendry for the screening of the documentary, No Fire Zone, reported Malaysiakini. 

In a court hearing last month, Ms Hendry was found guilty under Section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act and ordered to pay a RM 10,000 fine for organising the screening in 2013.  

Campaigners have criticised the initial sentence as a violation of basic media freedom and human rights. 

The Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe this week reiterated that there were no plans to sell Hambantota port to China, it would only be leased. 

"There is no preliminary draft regarding handing over the Hambanthota Port to anyone," Mr Wickremesinghe was quoted by Colombo Page as saying to parliament on Wednesday. 

He explained that the port deal was entered into because Sri Lanka could not pay the loans previously borrowed from China and that the new port deal was part of an agreement to have the loans written off. 

Families of the disappeared have been protesting in Maruthankerny, in Vadamaradchi East, for the twenty-fourth day.

A draft of Sri Lanka's Counter Terrorism Act was leaked on Thursday by unknown sources. 

See here for leaked copy.

The government has been under pressure to introduce a new bill to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act in order bring its counter-terror legislation in line with international standards. 

The issue was also highlighted in the UN resolutions co-sponsored by Sri Lanka at Geneva. 

The previous draft of the CTA was widely criticised for being more draconian than its predecessor. 

British Tamil students discussed Tamil identity and the experience of growing up Tamil at a panel event hosted by student groups in London.

Sri Lanka's parliament was adjourned today after joint opposition MPs complained at not being allowed given sufficient time to speak during the UN resolution debate, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The paper reported that speaker Karu Jayasuriya adjourned the debate after what it described as a "tense situation". 

Mannar locals have been protesting against a gazette notification declaring private land including the area of Musali as nature reserve.