Maru Sira

Maru Sira
දෙද්දුවා ජයතුංගලාගේ සිරිපාල
Sira in police custody
Born	Dedduwa Jayathungalage Siripala 1948 Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka
Died	7 August 1975(1975-08-07) (aged 26–27) Bogambara Prison, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Resting place	Mahaiyawa, Central Province, Sri Lanka
Other names	D.J. Siripala
Criminal penalty	Death by hanging

Dedduwa Jayathungalage "D.J." Siripala (Sinhala: දෙද්දුවා ජයතුංගලාගේ සිරිපාල; 1948 – 7 August 1975), better known as Maru Sira, was a Sri Lankan criminal who was executed amongst much controversy. Sira achieved fame through several daring escapes.

Life and career

Death

He had a daughter with Ranmenika, and the reason for him to escape the jail was solely to see his daughter who was only 3 days old. After escaping for a third time, Sira was sentenced to death in absentia for the killing of a man in March 1974. He was subsequently captured and sent to the Bogambara Prison in Colombo, to await his execution on August 5, 1975.

On the night before the execution prison guards gave Sira a high dose of Largactil to prevent an escape attempt. The overdose caused Sira to collapse into a state of unconsciousness from which he never recovered. He was carried to the scaffold on a stretcher and laid across the trapdoor. The noose was then placed around his neck and the trapdoor was opened. Due to the short fall (2 ft. 2 in.) caused by his slumped position Sira died from slow strangulation. If he had been standing he would have died instantly from a cervical fracture.

Aftermath

News of Sira's slow death led to public outrage. A presidential commission was appointed to look into the controversial execution. Two popular films Siripala and Ranmenika and Maruwa Samaga Wase were made based on Sira's story. Baila singer Anton Jones wrote and sang a song detailing his exploits.