Lanka court sentences four for murder of Briton, rape of fiancee

Four persons were convicted on Friday by a court in Sri Lanka for the murder of a British aid worker and the gang rape of his Russian fiancee.

The four, including a council member, will be sent to jail to perform hard labour for the next two decades.

According to media reports, the four convicted persons shot and stabbed Khuram Shaikh, a 32-year-old Red Cross worker based in Gaza, to death at a hotel while he was on a holiday in Sri Lanka in 2011.

His fiancee was beaten unconscious before being sexually assaulted, according to hospital and police records.

The Colombo High Court sentenced the four, including Sampath Vidanapathirana, a ruling party supporter and head of the council in Tangalle town, where the two were staying, to "rigorous imprisonment" for 20 years.

Judge Rohini Walgama also fined them 20,000 rupees (USD 150) each and ordered them to pay 200,000 rupees (USD 1,500) each in compensation.

Shaikh's Russian fiancee, who can not be identified under Sri Lankan law, was in court and seen wiping away tears as the verdict was delivered. The aid worker's brother, Nasser Shaikh, was also in court.