Sanchi Arachchilage Jinadasa who was better known as Maradankadawala Yakadaya had passed away at the National Hospital on October 9 and his post mortem was held yesterday.

Following the post mortem which revealed he had died of natural causes, the Inquirer into Sudden Deaths instructed that his body be kept for one more week at the Colombo morgue to provide an opportunity for a relative to accept the body. Failing which the final rites will take place after a week at the Borella general cemetery and the expenses borne by the government. He had been receiving treatment at the Elders Unit (Dementia Ward) at the Mulleriyawa National Mental Health Institution and as his health condition deteriorated he was admitted to the National Hospital on October 3.He is believed to have been around 111 years at the time of his death.

Jinadasa’s parents were Sanchi Arachchilage David and Jane Nona who resided at Uda Eriyagama Walawwa in Peradeniya and he had only one sister. It is believed that he stopped schooling after the attack on one of his teachers who had come to school under the influence of liquor. Later he moved to the Maradankadawala area where he became known as Yakadaya following his involvement in some daring robberies and escaping from police custody.

He had been a vegetarian and had not taken liquor. He had shared among the poor what he robbed from the wealthy, according to reports.After killing an officer attached to the Kekirawa Post Office in the fifties, he fled to India to avoid being arrested. He had swum the 20-mile stretch from Point Pedro to India where he had stayed for several years without any hassle since he was fluent in Tamil. Later he was however arrested and brought to Sri Lanka. He was sentenced to death and released after having served a 16-year jail term. Following his release from jail little had been known about his whereabouts apart from some media reports a few years ago.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka