A popular Sri Lankan actor has recorded his own suicide in his cellphone when he hanged himself from a ceiling fan on September 25.
According to police investigations, Dasun Nishan de Silva had committed suicide in a rooming house in Palanwaththa in Pannipitiya, a suburb about 30 minutes east of Colombo.
Another actor who went to see the 28-year-old after a shooting schedule in the area, told the inquest that he had seen him hanging from the ceiling fan. According to the cellphone video which was recovered from the scene Dasun had tried to commit suicide twice.
In the failed first attempt he had fallen down. According to the footage, he had been thinking for about five minutes after he fell down to the ground, climbed on to a teapoy and was successful in hanging himself the second time. A note written by him was found in the room says. It said he had been undergoing unbearable heartaches in the recent past and no one was responsible for his death, and that it was his own decision.
It has been revealed that the death of the popular star is the result of a love affair. He had been in love with a popular young actress, Shalini Tharaka, although he had been married to a woman he was in love with since school days. The wife said at the inquest that he told her that he wanted to marry the actress and wanted a divorce. She had then demanded a large compensation if he wanted a divorce. He had even spoken to a divorce lawyer who asked him to lie low for sometime. Dasun had told his friends he financed his wife’s education while they were in love. She is said to be working as a teacher in an international school in Colombo.
Shalini says she was unaware that Dasun was a married man when she fell in love with him while he was living alone in a rooming house but some express disbelief as it is hard to keep private lives of showbiz personalities under wraps in these days of active social media.
He had told his mother that he wanted to get married to the actress but she had turned a deaf ear to his frequent pleadings. It was also revealed that Shalini had refused his request to marry him after she came to know he was a married man.
Dasun wrote a Facebook post one month before his death which we see as something prophetic. The English translation of the post on August 26 says, “With my eyes closed and my mind toughened by this tragedy, may my sacrificed life be released into the deep end of the waters. RIP.” Another post on August 24 says “Bad decisions taken in the past can destroy the present”.
In a Facebook post after his suicide Shalini says “You could be still living Dasun, if someone prepared to listen to your heartaches.”
Shalini who is a lyricist, singer, actress and model had composed a song which popular singer Niorsha Virajini has sung. In a media interview, when Shalini was asked whether she was in love with someone when she composed the song as it contained lyrics of a highly emotional nature addressed to someone, she seemed to be shocked by the unexpected question and denied she had an affair.
The lyrics of the song which was posted on her Facebook page on July 17 begin like this: “I lamented for a love that did not belong to me. I have become feeble in my mind and the whole world is against me for the sin of falling in love with a treasure that I did not own”
And another Facebook post on July 19 laments: “Can people live in such manufactured lies?”
The body of Dasun was cremated in Malwaththe cemetery in Thihariya, about 50 miles off Colombo, amidst thousands of tearful fans on September 28.
Two of his popular television serials, Rathu Pichcha (Red Jasmine) and Kawurunda Oba? (Who are You?) are being currently being telecast on two channels. His first movie is to be released next month.
His RIP post (below) has since been deleted from the Facebook account. The post has recorded 100,000 likes and, 92 comments with none of his fans and friends without ever realizing his grim intentions. The first news of his death on Facebook has been viewed by 230,000 and has recorded 578 shares and 364 comments with fans wondering whether it was someone’s joke. (newstrails.com)
