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I want justice for what happened to me, says pandal victim Surali
Sulari Laknima
A young woman who was seriously injured when an unauthorised pandal put up to welcome then Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa collapsed in Maharagama will never walk again, doctors have confirmed. Meanwhile, the victim alleges that those responsible for erecting the pandal are now threatening her not to file legal action against them.
Sulari Laknima (27) from Rathgama, Galle, had come to Maharagama on September 8 last year for an appointment with an employment agency to make final preparations to go to Malaysia. She had been making her way towards Pamunuwa when the pandal suddenly collapsed onto the road, trapping her under it. She was rushed to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital and then the National Hospital for further treatment.
After surgery, she was taken to the Rheumatology & Rehabilitation Hospital in Ragama, where she has remained for nearly three months.
The pandal had been put up by supporters of Maharagama Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) organiser Kanthi Kodikara and her husband, Western Provincial Councilor Upali Kodikara. The pandal had been put up without the approval of the Maharagama Urban Council and Maharagama Police have filed a case over the incident. Mr Kodikara is out on bail and the case will be taken up again on February 28.
“They will discharge me from hospital soon, but I don’t know how I will survive at home. We live in a small house with just my mother, myself and my sister, who is married. There’s not even room inside to move my wheelchair and there’s no proper toilet either,” she told the Sunday Times.
Sulari said she had planned to go abroad to earn enough money to build a small house for herself and her mother. “I wanted to look after her, but she has now lost her own job as she has to take care of me.”
Sulari’s mother S.M. Samanthika (49), lost her job at a garment factory in Rathgama as she had to remain by her daughter’s side constantly since the accident five months ago. “We only briefly went back home for five days during the election, but had to come back to hospital as a germ had got into Sulari’s system,” she revealed.
Life at the hospital is hard on them, Mrs Samanthika said. “We have to buy our meals from outside. We also need to buy medicines, pampers and eau de cologne among other things. All this costs us about Rs 50, 000 a month.”
Sulari said both Kanthi Kodikara and Upali Kodikara had visited her soon after the tragedy and had sent some money, but were now acting as if they had “forgotten the entire thing.”
“We have to constantly call them and tell them of our plight. They sent Rs 10,000 in December and Rs 15, 000 in January, but both times, we had to make multiple calls. They don’t even visit us now. I told them recently that I will have to file a case against them to seek damages if this goes on and they threatened me and said to go ahead and see.”
Sulari said she held Ms Kodikara personally responsible for the incident since it was her name and face that was displayed prominently on the pandal that crashed on top of her.
“We are not blaming President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa or anyone else in their party for this. We just want word to get out about our situation,” she added.
SLPP Maharagama Organiser Kanthi Kodikara insisted that they were doing all they could for Sulari. She claimed the victim and her family were “being manipulated by our political enemies for their own ends.”
“We visit them when we can, but we have a lot of work as people’s representatives and so we can’t do so every day. We could have washed our hands of the whole thing since it was others who put up the pandal. But my husband accepted responsibility because we are not ones to pass blame onto others.”
She said there was no need for Sulari and her family to pressure them and stressed they would do all that they can for the family.
Sulari however, said Mrs Kodikara had only visited her once since the accident, while Mr Kodikara had done so twice. “All I want is justice for what happened to me. I hope the President sees this and intervenes,” she added.