Kankanamalage’s body was found dead in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, East London, in the early hours of 16 August. The 50-year-old, who was known as Roy by friends, was declared deceased at the scene by members of the London Ambulance Service who arrived at around 6.30am.
He was found to have a head injury and a post-mortem examination later ruled that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
In a statement released by police, it was confirmed that the “incident is being treated as a homophobic hate crime”. They urged the LGBTQ+ community in the area to report anything suspicious to police immediately, especially at night.