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Traffic light tales
The begging children of Colombo- where do they come from, where do they go? Kumudini Hettiarachchi reports
It is rush hour in the posh areas of Colombo. The traffic lights turn red and suddenly a figure darts through the heavy lanes of vehicles, in and out, tapping on the windows of cars and vans, pleading for money. Often it is a woman, carrying a child, and in a majority of cases the child is in deep slumber.

Who are they? Where are they from? Is it their own children or have they been "borrowed" from a beggar mudalali for a few hours, so that men, women and children heading for comfortable homes and a warm dinner are moved to part with their money? A more disturbing question that comes to mind is whether these children are drugged? For even in heavy rain, some without a stitch of clothing, continue to sleep, their heads lolling on the women's shoulders.

On a tour down Kynsey Road, Castle Street and Kanatte Road on Wednesday evening around 5.30, The Sunday Times met two such women. Warily peeking around for the police, they are reluctant to talk, for just two or three days before, the "kantha police" (women's police desk) had swooped and taken away a woman and her child, they claimed.

"The child is in the Kotte home. The woman was released," says Periyaperumage Devika, when persuaded to have a chat. "Most of the women have left this area."

Clutching a receipt from a Borella tailorshop for a black pair of shorts and a white shirt, costing Rs. 200 in one hand and carrying a boy, she says she has lived on the road near Kanatte since her husband left her. "I beg for about one hour at this time because I have to feed my son. I send him to school. Everything is so costly - the clothes, the shoes," says Devika while Nihal Pushpakumara a Grade 2 student of a nearby school gives an innocent grin.

Nihal has only one school uniform. They were washing it daily but the day before the teachers had scolded him for wearing the same clothes everyday. "I was forced to get another short and shirt for him," says Devika waving the receipt dated the same day. "Now I have to find an extra Rs. 200 to get the clothes."

The tears come when questioned about the family. "We are scattered. Earlier we were living in Padukka and my husband was a labourer. The going was tough but at least we were together. Then he left us and we starved. That's when I came here," she says adding that her two daughters aged 13 and 12 are in a home run by nuns in Negombo.

"I cannot keep them on the road. It is not safe," she says. Looking at her artificially blackened eyebrows, the next question: "Are you into other activity in addition to begging?" gets an immediate, "No. No. Then I won't need to beg." She earns about Rs. 25 or 30 and on a good day Rs. 60.

A few hundred yards away is S.P. Sriyanthi, with Anusha who is four. When asked whether she is the mother, she stresses, "May mage lamaya" (This is my child), while the little girl chips in with a smile, "May mage Amma" (This is my mother).

"I need to buy some kerosene for cooking and some coconut oil. That's why I am here, to earn something because my husband is at Welikada," says Sriyanthi who lives in a watte in Dematagoda. Her son is being sent to school and cared for by her nanda (aunt).

The husband was doing concrete weda (work) about a year ago and was asked by someone to take a package. The police found that it was kudu (drugs), she says, adding that was the first time he got involved. "Aparade, anunge kudu. Now he has learnt his lesson. He will be out very soon and I won't have to beg on the streets," she says explaining that it was someone else's drugs. She and the little girl spend about two hours, making around Rs. 150.

However, motorists express fears that when these women with children dart through the traffic, and they have their eye on the instantly changing traffic lights the risk of accidents is very high. "They can easily get run over because sometimes drivers in vehicles at the end of a line don't see them," said a van driver.

As the 'lamp lighter' with his stick and hook, pedals his cycle around the streets of Colombo, switching on the lights, these women make their way to whatever they call home - the street, an eave or a shack.

For the motorists and passers-by, of course, the nagging questions whether the little ones are being exploited and abused and whether they pass from hand to hand in a mafia-type operation run by beggar mudalalis and whether when they come of age they too will take to the streets remain unanswered.

Rescued from alleged drug-addict father
A three-year-old girl and her father loitering on Baseline Road, Borella had been taken in by the Women's and Children's Bureau of the Colombo City Police and produced in court, Sub-inspector C. D. Saluwadana told The Sunday Times, when asked about the problems of begging.

The child has been placed in a home in Kotte since February 18 on a court order."The child was being used for begging and was neglected. Inquiries found that both parents were doing drugs. The mother is now in jail," Ms. Saluwadana added.

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