Canada has approved permanent residency for the father and brother of an Ottawa man who survived a deadly mass stabbing that killed his wife, four children and a family friend, offering long-awaited immigration relief to the grieving family.
The victims — Darshani Ekanayake, 35, her son Inuka, 7, daughters Ashwini, 4, Ranaya, 3, and Kelly, two months old — were killed in their Ottawa townhouse in March 2024. Family friend Gamini Amarakoon, 40, was also killed. Ekanayake’s husband, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, was injured but survived the attack.
The perpetrator, Febrio De-Zoysa, was sentenced in November to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after pleading guilty to multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
Following the tragedy, Wickramasinghe’s father and brother travelled from Sri Lanka to Canada to support him and later applied for permanent residency. After months without updates, the family sought federal assistance.
Immigration lawyer Ronalee Carey, who represents the family, confirmed Monday that both applications were approved earlier this month and the two are now awaiting their permanent resident cards.
Carey said Wickramasinghe’s brother, Chelaka Wickramasinghe, plans to sponsor his wife and daughter, whose visitor visa applications were previously denied. She noted that the sponsorship process could take up to 14 months and said efforts are continuing to reunite the family sooner.
Carey added that she has requested federal officials reconsider the visitor visa refusals and is exploring additional options to allow the family to come to Canada while the sponsorship application is processed.