Six members of family stabbed to death in Canada, tenant student arrested

Toronto: A 19-year-old Sri Lankan student living in an Ottawa home has been arrested for allegedly stabbing six people living in the house, including a two-and-a-half-month-old girl.

The accused has been identified as Fabricio de Zoesa and has been charged with murder and attempt to murder. Mass murders are not common in Canada.

Those killed in the incident were Sri Lankan nationals and had recently come to Canada. The deceased have been identified as 35-year-old woman Darshani Ekniake, her seven-year-old son Enuka Wickremesinghe, four-year-old daughter Ashwini Wickremesinghe, two-year-old daughter Rinyana Wickremesinghe and one-and-a-half-month-old daughter Kelly Wickremesinghe and the family’s 40-year-old acquaintance G. K. Gamini Amarkun is included.

When officials arrived at the scene, the father of the deceased children was outside the house and requesting people to call emergency services, police said.

The police received two phone calls at 10.52 pm last night. The father is also seriously injured and has been admitted to the hospital but there is no threat to his life.