The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences imposed on four individuals, including Swiss Kumar, over the abduction, gang rape, and murder of schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vithiya in Jaffna.

The ruling was delivered by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, which dismissed the appeals filed by the accused seeking to overturn their convictions and secure acquittal.

However, the Court also ordered that the sentences of two other accused be set aside.

At the time the order was delivered, three of the accused who had been sentenced to death were produced before court, while others appeared via Zoom technology.

The case relates to the abduction, gang rape, and murder of 18-year-old schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vithiya in Pungudutivu, Jaffna, on or around 13 May 2015, while she was returning home from school.

The Attorney General had filed indictments against Swiss Kumar and several others before a Trial-at-Bar in Jaffna over the incident.

In 2017, the Trial-at-Bar found seven accused guilty and imposed the death penalty.

The convicted individuals subsequently filed appeals before the Supreme Court seeking to be acquitted.

During the course of the appeal hearings, one of the accused had died.