Born Selina Margaret Peiris to a wealthy family in Badulla, she was educated in the Catholic Convent school and at the Musaeus College in Colombo.
She was active in the Suriya Mala movement, which in 1933 started a relief program for the malaria epidemic that ravage the island leading to over 10,000 deaths in two months.
In 1939, she made her way to the United States linking up with the Socialist Workers Party, in hopes of traveling to Mexico to meet Trotsky, but failed due to visa problems.
When most of the LSSP members were arrested and deported to Ceylon in July 1943, she with Vivienne Goonewardena and Colvin R. de Silva escaped to Calcutta.
She opted to stay in India, adopting the name Sheela Perera, making a living as an English teacher until her death in 1986.