The postmortem report is to be presented to court on Monday.

The teenager was a resident of Dayagama and had come to work as a maid at the former minister’s house , police said.

Sri Lanka’s overcrowded prisons housed 28,000 to 30,000 prisoners at any given time before the pandemic.

Reports showed inmates at the Welikada prison protesting from the roof of a building at the prison premises.

"Another example of selective, arbitrary granting of pardons that weakens rule of law and undermines accountability"

There has also been an increased number of attempts to cross provincial borders, police said.

"The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is revisiting provisions in the PTA as has already been communicated to the EU."

“On the whole, people’s behaviour has been satisfactory,” the police spokesman said.

"Sri Lankan law has no reference to fake news"

“This is being carried out by criminals or and certain prison inmates"