JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Anne Laksha Ignatius, the culinary instructor stabbed to death at her family’s home in Jaffna this month, had been planning to remarry and move abroad with her daughter, according to friends who described months of growing unease about a former student before the attack.
The man the police suspect of killing her, Thevathas Pugalarasan, had trained under Ms. Ignatius, eaten meals at her parents’ house and later worked as a trainee cook at a hotel where she was employed, her friends said. Ms. Ignatius, 31, eventually cut off contact with him because his behaviour troubled her, they said, but declined to report him to the police because she feared a complaint would damage his future.
Their accounts come from interviews with Jaffna Monitor and from a Facebook post written by a close friend after the killing. Several details could not be independently verified, and the police have not publicly established a motive.
Ms. Ignatius was killed on Oct. 5 at the family’s home on Temple Road in Nallur. Her mother, who was stabbed while trying to intervene, was admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital in serious condition and has since recovered.
The police said the attacker fled the house carrying a knife. Mr. Pugalarasan, who was from Sivapuram in Paranthan, Kilinochchi District, died by suicide later that night when he was struck by a train near Ariyalai, the police said.
Friends of Ms. Ignatius, who asked not to be identified because they were discussing a private family matter, said she and the man she planned to marry had helped Mr. Pugalarasan overcome language barriers in his culinary studies and had provided equipment he needed for his training. He continued to pursue her after she repeatedly rejected his advances, the friends said.
One of those friends said the knife used in the attack was one Ms. Ignatius had given him after he passed an examination. The police have not said where the weapon came from, and Jaffna Monitor could not confirm the account.
Mr. Pugalarasan came to know her parents, her daughter and her fiancé, and sometimes ate at the family’s home while preparing for examinations, another close friend told Jaffna Monitor.
Over time, his behaviour and manner of speaking began to trouble Ms. Ignatius, that friend said. She gradually spoke with him less and eventually tried to cut off contact. She told her fiancé, who lives abroad, about the situation. He and her parents urged her to file a police complaint, but she declined.
“Poor boy. I will be leaving the country in another two months anyway,” the friend quoted her as saying. “If we make a police complaint, his future will be ruined. His parents are depending on him.”
She attributed his conduct to immaturity, the friend said, quoting her as saying: “We have all been through that age ourselves. We have matured, but he is still a young boy.”
Another friend told Jaffna Monitor that Ms. Ignatius grew worried enough about Mr. Pugalarasan’s attention to leave Jaffna for several weeks and stay in Trincomalee, and that his behaviour was a factor in her decision to leave a teaching job.
In the days before her death, Ms. Ignatius asked the owner of a private educational institute for work and whether she could teach classes made up only of female students, according to a person familiar with the conversation. She told the owner that a man 11 years younger than her was pursuing her and that she did not know how to handle it. She was due to start at the institute on Oct. 6, the day after she was killed.
Ms. Ignatius’s husband, Ahilan Amirthalingam, died by suicide in November 2021, when their daughter was 6. She moved back in with her parents and continued her career in culinary education.
Her family had encouraged her to remarry, her friends said, and a marriage had been arranged with an internationally certified culinary professional. The couple planned to marry within months, after which she and her daughter would move abroad. Jaffna Monitor is withholding his name to protect his privacy.
Ms. Ignatius, who was born in 1994, taught culinary arts and hospitality in Jaffna. In September 2025, the British College of Hospitality Management announced that she had joined as its academic head and culinary instructor. Her Facebook profile listed her as a visiting lecturer at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management. Her father, Marianthamby Ignatius, is an in-service adviser in the education sector and a former principal of Palaly Teachers’ College.
Friends described her as a teacher who gave extra time to students who struggled with the theory sections of culinary exams because of language barriers, and who coached them through their preparation.
In her Facebook post, the close friend wrote that after Ms. Ignatius was widowed, she faced remarks about her clothing, her personal choices, and her decision to rebuild her life. She mostly ignored them in public but sometimes voiced her frustration on Facebook. She had been a champion athlete at school and had enrolled her daughter in athletics training.
The friend wrote that the spread of unverified stories about Ms. Ignatius’s private life since the killing had added to the family’s grief and could harm her daughter, now 11, who has lost both parents.
“For some people, her death may be nothing more than content for social media,” the friend wrote. “But I am writing this because I fear that these stories could damage the future of her 11-year-old daughter.”
She urged the public to stop speculating about Ms. Ignatius’s relationships. “A woman’s clothing, independence, decision to remarry or personal life can never justify violence against her,” she wrote.
The Jaffna police are investigating the killing.
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the CCCline on 1333 for free, confidential support.
