[2][3][4] She is the third daughter of Donald Samarakone (formerly of Ceylon Civil Service) and Srima (née Rathnayake).

[5] She was educated at Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo and attended Sri Lanka Law College where she graduated as a lawyer with Honours in 1979.

She became an associate member of Sri Lanka Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 1982.

[6] In 2008 she was appointed as a Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore, where she served as the Head of the Sri Lanka Diplomatic Mission for a period of 3 years.

During that time, she played an important role in promoting Ceylon tea, investment, trade, tourism and strengthening the diplomatic relations of Sri Lanka with Singapore.