‘There was a bang and we were dragged several feet’
By Nadia Fazlulhaq

The IOM office in Colombo

“She cried a little and asked me for a sip of water while we were rushing her to the Accident Service,” said Udara, who was besides the dying Rukshika whose life was tragically snatched away in an accident that took place at the Horton Place-Kinsey Road.

Udara Champika Navaratne (29) was a colleague of Rukshika , the victim of a hit and run incident that took place around 5.45a.m. on December 6. They were both working for V Fm radio. As the transmission work of V Fm was being temporarily broadcast from the HNB Towers the journalists had to report there.

“It was around 5.30 a.m.,Ruksh,i myself and the driver were travelling to HNB towers to report for the early morning shift. We had to report by 6 a.m. Rukshi was in the News Dept and I in the Programming Dept. The driver first picked me up from Homagama and then her from Delkanda. As I had worked late the previous night I had fallen asleep,” Udara said.

Udara had been next to the driver and had woken up with a jolt when the van was hit. “I knew at that moment that we had been hit by a car and next moment the van toppled and we were dragged about seven feet for a few seconds. I covered my head with both of my hands. Finally it stopped and I got out first as I was on the left side and I pulled out the driver who had a few injuries,” he said.

Udara and the Driver had then looked for for Rukshika who had been sitting in the back seat. When they found her missing, Udara shouted out her name but there was no answer. “Rukshi had been thrown out from the van about 10 feet away. The driver and I ran towards her. Meanwhile, the two foreigners in the blue Audi car that hit our vehicle hadn’t got down. Then we spotted Rukshi lying on the ground bleeding. There were no other vehicles on the road. The two men had got down from their vehicle by this time and they saw how desperate we were to get Rukshi to hospital. But instead of helping us they got back in to their car and drove away,” he said.

At that moment Udara saw a vehicle approaching them and hailed it down. The driver had stopped and they managed to take Rukshi to the Accident Service of the National Hospital. “She was immediately admitted to the ICU. I thought she must have been suffering from internal injuries as she was in a lot of pain and she was moaning all the way to hospital The doctors informed us that there was a lot of internal bleeding.

Twenty-one year old Rukshika Prasadini died after a battle with life for almost 13 days.
“She joined V Fm five months back. A friendly colleague at office, Rukshi had all the simple qualities of a village girl. This was her first job and she was keen on pursuing further in the field of electronic media,” said Udara.

Today Rukshi’s place in the office is empty and above it her colleagues have painted words of rememberance to a wonderful friend.

What IOM says
Jean-Philippe Chauzy, Head, Media and Public Information of IOM in Geneva responding to The Sunday Times queries has made the following statement. “The International Organization for Migration is deeply affected by the tragic and untimely death of Rukshika Prasadini and shares the sorrow of her family.

“The IOM wishes to confirm that the Organization will cooperate with the local authorities in the interest of justice, within the parameters of its immunity from jurisdiction and that of its staff members. A lawyer has been retained for that purpose and has full authority to represent IOM.
Mr. Gascon and his family are currently out of the country on a holiday which was planned long before the accident.

“The allegations that Mr. Gascon did not report to the nearest police station after the accident and left the scene claiming diplomatic immunity are wrong. “Immediately following the accident, Mr. Gascon ran to the Australian High Commissioner’s residence at 85 Horton Place to inform the police officer standing guard, that there had been a car accident and that he should call for help.

“Mr. Gascon then returned to the scene with the officer and remained throughout the process of removing the injured to hospital and examining the scene of the accident. “He then went to the Cinnamon Garden police station to make a statement. As there was no-one willing to take the statement at the time, he returned at 9.30 to make the statement.

“He was never asked to undergo to a medical examination, and if asked would have willingly done so. He was not under the influence of alcohol. “As he said in his statement, Mr. Gascon was driving on December 6 at 5.30 a.m. towards the Royal Colombo Golf Course. At the intersection of Horton Place and Kynsey Road, with flashing amber traffic light, a white van, travelling north, cut across the intersection at high speed. The vehicles collided, resulting in the white van losing control, turning over and finally coming to a stop approximately 75 metres further north on Kynsey Road. Ms Prasadini was thrown out of the van.”