COLOMBO. Nov. 20, Reuter: A Sri Lankan Honor Guard member who hit Prime ‘Minister Rajiv Gandhi with a rifle butt in July was found guilty of attempted homicide by a military court on Friday.
The three-day court sentenced naval rating Vijitha Rohana to six years of rigorous imprisonment and ruled he should be discharged ‘with disgrace from military service for breaching navy discipline.
Defence Lawyer Stanley Tille karatne told the court he would appeal against the conviction for attempted culpable homicide, not amounting to murder”.
The court said Rohana was not guilty of the more serious original charge of attempted murder, one of two filed against him by the prosecution. The other was violation of naval conduct.
Rohana, a 22yearold Sinhalese, hit Gandhi on July 30 while a member of a military guard of honor for the Indian leader. Gandhi had just signed. A pact with Sri Lanka to end four years of ethnic bloodshed in the island.
Rohana last week told the court he had not intended to kill Gandhi but wanted to disgrace him publicly. “If Thad a broomstick, i would have hit him with a broomstick”, he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 27, 1987
