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On the Previous Day of Her Month’s Wedding Anniversary, She Was Abducted, Raped, and Murdered.

Rita John’s murder also known as the Crow Island Murder

Theewari Dulandiya
4 min readFeb 14, 2025
Photo by Eugene Lisyuk from Pexels

Some areas of Colombo, Sri Lanka, are a kingdom of crows. There is even an island named after them in Colombo: Crow Island.

Crow Island is separated from the mainland by a two-kilometer canal that connects the Kelani River to the Indian Ocean. This island village is home to a multi-ethnic and religiously mixed population.

Today, Crow Island is a place where the whole family can come together and enjoy the beach and the surrounding environment. Crow Island also has a recreational beach park. Many tourists and locals flock to this island.

Unlike today, the environment on this so-called Crow Island was different in 1998. The eastern side of the island was a dense mangrove forest. It was a perfect place to commit a crime without anyone seeing it.

It happened to a newlywed woman who was jogging with her beloved husband.

Jude Manoharan and Rita John

Jude Manoharan was a Sri Lankan marine mechanical engineer. In 1998, his ship sailed to Bombay, India, and was docked there for several days. During that time, Jude attended Sunday Mass…

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Theewari Dulandiya
Theewari Dulandiya

Written by Theewari Dulandiya

Hello! After three-plus years of writing about true crime, I'm excited to announce that I've created my first crime-related newsletter, Crimewatch Chronicles.

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