Ride to death

A competitor participating in a cycle race was killed after his bicycle hit the side of a lorry. Kasthuri Kapila Kumara (19) was the victim of this unfortunate accident in Ratnapura. Hailing from Pathakada in Pelmadulla, he had studied at the village Buddhist school up to Grade 8.

Kapila’s parents D.M.Punchimahatmaya (65) and R.A.Gnanawathie (52) had four boys and four girls in the family in which Kapila was the sixth. His father was a gem miner. Kapila took a leaf from his two elder brothers who were fond of cycle racing. When he heard about a cycle race sponsored by the Technical College in Ratnapura, he applied for the competition. The race was from Ratnapura to Embilipitiya and back.

Kapila had told his family he would come back with a victory and kissed his parents before leaving on that fateful day.

The father had not sighted Kapila when the cyclists were returning and to his horror he learnt that one competitor had met with a serious accident. He had rushed to the Kahawatta hospital only to see it was his dear son who was dead. Kapila had been thrown off his cycle when its handle-bar hit the side of a break-down vehicle he was trailing. Kapila’s father said no one from the company which sponsored the race had come to sympathise with the family.