News

Despite good news and bad news regarding the release of sub-inspector Badujeewa Bopitigoda who has been in LTTE custody for some 11 months, family members are still hopeful he would be back home soon.

Soon after the three police officers were detained by the LTTE when they were on the trail of a British paedophile in the Mannar area, their families visited all possible places-the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), SLMM, Peace Secretariat and other organizations-in an effort to get their release.

After several attempts, one officer was released in January and another, a couple of weeks later.

Expectations were high, that SI Bopitigoda would also be released soon. However, the ‘court’ sessions were postponed for further investigations.

Five months have passed since the release of the second police officer in mid-February and hope started to fade away. SI Bopitigoda was left alone and isolated among the other prisoners due to the language barrier.

The pain suffered by the Bopitigoda family was forgotten with time. However, the family persisted with efforts to get SI Bopitigoda’s release. Once again the matter of his release came up when Daya Master was brought to Colombo for medical attention with Bopitigoda’s family members sending a letter to the Peace Secretariat pleading for the SI’s release on humanitarian grounds. Expectations were high again that SI Bopitigoda would be released soon.

However, Daya Master was discharged from hospital and went back but SI Bopitigoda, remained a prisoner, yearning to be back home, while his health deteriorated.

“He was having poor eyesight and was given medicine. But as it got worse, he was presented with spectacles by the Red Cross. Earlier, he was allowed to call home. But now he cannot. The only way he communicates is through long letters” his wife Disna said.

“We missed the two previous ‘court’ sessions, as we couldn’t go to Kilinochchi after the Kebitigollewa incident. It is nearly two months now after I last saw him,” she said.

Her six-year-old daughter Devni goes to school and appears to be very interested in her studies. “She’s now somewhat settled, but keeps asking when her father will come home. My husband missed seeing her taking part in the Montessori concert last December and many other family events. I take Devni to Kilinochchi whenever I go there, though she misses two school sessions as a result,” Disna said.

To the Bopitigoda family, the journey to Kilinochchi is an arduous one. They start their journey in the morning from their Negombo home and stay the first night at a temple in Anuradhapura. The next day they reach Vavuniya by 7.30 a.m., then travel to Omanthai and reach Kilinochchi close to noon.

“It costs a lot to hire a vehicle to go to Kilinochchi and after the situation in the country got worse, we find it hard to get any vehicle going that way and the cost is more. This is something I can ill afford as now my daughter is in Grade one,” Disna said.

Though it’s a hard journey, SI Bopitigoda’s brother Kamal Indrajith has visited his brother 35 times hoping to hear a favourable verdict.

“It was on June 5 that I saw him last. He was very weak and had lost his appetite. The only thing he said was to make all efforts to get him released,” he said.

“I heard that Mr. Thamilselvan has given a letter to the SLMM, setting out the terms and conditions for my brother’s release. I think this letter must be containing details of an exchange of prisoners between the two parties. After meeting the President, I am positive things will move in the right direction soon and I hope to see my brother back home,” he said.