Sri Lanka, July 9 -- The Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced eight accused to death for the murder of two persons and injuries to several others over a personal dispute in 1997.

The Attorney General had filed indictments against the accused for the murder of Hewa Batagodage Kusumawathi and Velayudham Udayakumar and the injuries to several others in the Tharawatte area on or about 21 September 1997. Following a lengthy trial, Colombo High Court Judge Buddhika Sri Ragala observed that the prosecution had prove the allegations against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

After considering the evidence during the trial, the accused were sentenced to death. The case was tried in the absence of one accused. The seven other accused in the c...