(Ottawa) Dhanushka Wickramasinghe thought his days of living alone in Ottawa were behind him.
Her house in suburban Barrhaven was quiet when she returned from work a little before 11 p.m., but the happy bustle of a house full of children returned in the morning.
This was not always the case: Mr. Wickramasinghe had spent several years alone in Canada, working to establish himself while his family remained in Sri Lanka, his country of origin.
Last summer, he was happily reunited with his wife Darshani Ekanyake, a teacher, and their three young children. Months later, a new joy: the birth of a little girl named Kelly.
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The Wickramasinghe family
But on Wednesday, a real nightmare was unfolding on the other side of Mr. Wickramasinghe’s front door.
“He is in shock, very disturbed,” said Bhante Suneetha, a resident monk at the family’s local temple who learned the details of the tragedy at Mr. Wickramasinghe’s hospital bedside.
As he struggled with his attacker, Wickramasinghe felt the sting of a knife or other sharp weapon – police would later call it a “knife-like object” – which cut into his face.
He was stabbed in the chest and back. At least one of his fingers was cut off. Blood was everywhere.
Inside, his entire family was already dead.
“This murderer hit and stabbed him,” Mr. Suneetha said. But the father tried to control him and hold him back. »
Mr Wickramasinghe asked his attacker if his family had been hurt. The latter lied and said no. Gamini Amarakoon Amarakoon Mudiyanselage, a family friend, also died.
Mr Wickramasinghe ran outside – screaming, bleeding, inconsolable. Neighbors called the police, who arrived a few minutes later and subdued the attacker.
The children were identified as his 7-year-old son, Inuka Wickramasinghe, and his three daughters: Ashwini, 4; Ranyana, 3 years old; and Kelly, two and a half months.
Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old foreign exchange student who was staying with the family, now faces six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
De-Zoysa, also a Sri Lankan national, had moved into the family’s basement in recent months. Earlier this month, they all celebrated his birthday together.
Mr. Wickramasinghe had even met the suspect’s parents in Sri Lanka, Mr. Suneetha said.
But all was not well for De-Zoysa, who had dropped out of school and also had suicidal thoughts, the monk said.
An Algonquin College spokesperson confirmed De-Zoysa last studied there during the winter 2023 semester.
In an interview with Global News, the suspect’s aunt, Anusha, said the family had been “so kind to him.”
“I’m still shaking,” she said. They were such a wonderful family. »
De-Zoysa arrived in Canada two years ago, she told Global. He lived with his aunt for his first month in the country, then met Mr. Wickramasinghe in Algonquin.
Then, suddenly, he seemed to cut off all contact with those close to him, blocking their phone numbers and social media accounts, she said.
The owner of the Ottawa home where the family lived said he did not know anyone other than the couple and their children lived in the home.
Harpreet Chhabra was checking his bags at the airport Thursday morning, en route to a family vacation in Mexico, when police called to tell him the news.
This can’t be true, he thought. A young family, six people murdered on my property, my heart goes out to them. »
In the aftermath of the attack, Ottawa’s Sri Lankan community rallied around Mr. Wickramasinghe, described by many as a kind and helpful man.
Her brother and father will soon arrive from Sri Lanka to help her with her emotional recovery – a painful road softened by the outpouring of public support.
De-Zoysa is scheduled to return to court on March 13.