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Jumbo care or cruelty?

It was an accident
Sunil Rambukpotha, Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Environment however dismissed these allegations and said a minor accident had been sensationalised.

He said that in the first instance stones had not been thrown at Ganga. He pointed out that young elephants such as Ganga can be very playful in water and they had to be controlled since their body temperature could get unbalanced causing serious harm to the animal if it is not bathed properly. Ganga who had already been reprimanded twice by the keeper, had tried to get up from a lying down position in the water and in turning had accidentally struck her eye on the stick that the mahout was holding in his hand, Mr. Rambukpotha said. "The injury is very minor and Ganga is recovering. She has not been blinded," he said.

Mr. Rambukpotha also denied allegations that it had taken 12 hours for the doctor to attend to Ganga. "The Zoological Gardens veterinarians attended to her immediately and it took a while for the specialist veterinarian to get to the Zoo. A specialist was got down as it was, a sensitive area, that was injured," he said.

-A.R.R.

By Sagarica Rajakarunanayake
Environmentalists have called for stern action against the keeper at the Dehiwela Zoo who allegedly injured a young elephant in his care.

"Ganga", the youngest of the elephants performing in the National Zoological Gardens' elephant circus was injured in one eye after being struck by her keeper.

The incident took place on Monday, February 10 when Ganga was in the waterhole where elephants are taken for their daily bath. The injury was allegedly caused by a stone being thrown at her, but even four days later, no disciplinary action had been taken against the keeper for his action.

Environmental action group "Sathva Mithra" reported the matter to Minister of Environment, Rukman Senanayake who ordered the immediate suspension of Ganga's keeper from his normal duties and called for a full inquiry. The injury caused to the elephant's eye is said to have been serious. A four-hour operation was done on Ganga's eye, after an eye specialist was summoned. Environmentalists question why the Zoo vets took so long to attend to Ganga's eye. Ganga was injured around 10 a.m. but the specialist came in only at about 10 p.m. they say.

"We find it hard to comprehend why a keeper should resort to such violent means to control a young elephant, especially when it is the very elephant looked after regularly by him. Bath time should be a happy event for elephants and they should be allowed to relax in the water and cool off. But sadly, we have learnt that more often than not, elephant keepers are impatient with the elephants and at the least provocation tend to attack them brutally sometimes even using the goad (henduwa)," an environmentalist said.

"Concerned employees who witness or know of such incidents do not dare report them for fear it could put them into trouble with the workers' union as well as the higher officials. As a result, the invariable conclusion is that it was a justified attack in order to control the animal," the environmentalist said.

This is not the first case of injury to animals at the Zoo. About two years ago, an 11-year-old African elephant named Joel was allegedly attacked with the goad in 25 places on the trunk and face, while in the water at bathing time.

The assailant in this case was a senior elephant keeper but no inquiry was held until Sathva Mithra officials reported the matter to the Minister. When an inquiry was finally held it was concluded that the elephant's behaviour warranted the using of the hook. Animal lovers awaiting the outcome of Ganga's case point out the need to establish an independent authority, which will set about the process of calling for inquiries and even look into the legal aspects of animal rights, welfare and protection.

Escape from child abuse
By Anne Abayasekera
Sexual abuse of children is no longer a well-kept secret. It is now openly acknowledged and talked of as one of the social sins that beset our own society and other societies worldwide.

A little known organization ESCAPE, 'Eliminating Sexual Child Abuse, Prostitution and Exploitation' started in 1995, focuses on helping sexually abused children and families by making the services of a psychologist/counsellor available to them. Its dedicated Director since 2001 is Dr. Ranjan Rajasingham and his team comprises Nivaditha Balaranjit, (psychologist), Sherine Kara, (visiting psychologist), Harshini Gunawardena (attorney-at-law), Anthony Thakroos and Kumari Ravichandran (family workers), Sujitha Siri Kumara and Rushani Chandasena (in charge of training), Priyani Kellman (co-ordinator of the proposed Respite Home at Kedella) and Rebecca Edward (administrator). In addition, ESCAPE is fortunate to have a small band of volunteers willing to help in whatever way they can.

I met Dr. Rajasingham and the others in their new quarters at 25A, Waidya Road, Dehiwela, into which they had moved from February 1. ESCAPE deals mainly with children who have been sexually abused in their own homes-most commonly cases of incest where the abuser has been a father or other male relative, and where the mother has come for help, or the children have been referred by a concerned third party.

Ms. Balaranjit said, "Parents are often unaware of the damage done to the child and therapy for the child is not perceived as a necessity. Very often, it's the mother who, because of her shock and distress, is in need of immediate counselling and we do our best to meet her need while helping her to recognize and understand the needs of the child."

The two trained family workers visit the homes if invited to do so. Although most of the 35 children seen by Ms. Balaranjit have been girls, there have been sexually abused boys too.

Siri Kumara and Ms. Chandrasena are responsible for training people who work with children like care-givers and teachers. They have, on request, trained school teachers in Kandy, Galle, Negombo and Colombo. They also conduct awareness programmes in schools, telling children in non-threatening language, how they should protect themselves.

Siri Kumara showed me two large and very realistic rag dolls, a boy and a girl, which are used in programmes for children to explain which part of their bodies are private and should not be touched by others. "I was also shown an excellent booklet for children, illustrated in colour, called "Staying Safe", published in all three languages. Since it was funded by "Save the Children" ESCAPE has been able to distribute it free of charge and 20,000 children have so far received copies of it.

Another useful and well illustrated booklet entitled "The Truth Will Set You Free" focuses on preparing children for court proceedings, a very daunting experience for anyone and much more so for a child. This has been produced jointly by ESCAPE and an organization named 'Save Lanka Kids' and has been written and illustrated by Suba Tidball with the help of Alison Shuttleworth. "When Trust is Lost' is the title of yet another helpful book. This has been published in English by the publishers of the popular devotional booklet called "Daily Bread" and Mr. Siri Kumara has translated it into Sinhala.

Parents have often to be persuaded to keep bringing the child until the psychologist is satisfied with her condition. All cases of sexual child abuse are expected to be reported to the National Child Protection Authority.

One troubling concern that ESCAPE shares with all those who work in this field, is that when the child has to continue to live in the same house as her abuser, the tensions and fears remain and there is always the possibility of a recurrence of the nightmare.

ESCAPE is trying to find a safe place to keep a child in just this situation. In the long term, work is in progress to build a Respite Home on land it already has in Kedella, to provide shelter for a given period for up to 20 children.

Even if it is like a drop in the ocean, organizations like ESCAPE offer help and hope to children who have been traumatized by sexual abuse. ESCAPE can be reached on telephone numbers: 074 201434 & 074 201740. E-mail escape@stmail.lk

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