Sealed with a toe

An ex soldier who had lost both hands registers his marriage in a unique way

Pix and text by Athula Bandara

The couple taking their marriage vows and below lighting the lamp

A toe print instead of a signature by the groom sealed the love of an extraordinary couple when they got married amidst family and friends in Mihintale.

The bridegroom was a 39-year-old soldier A. Ratnayake who had lost his sight and both hands in battle and the bride, 37- year-old athlete K. Kumudulatha.

The couple had first met at a wedding and sympathy had soon blossomed into love.
The high point or at least the most touching point of their wedding ceremony held at the groom’s home was when he placed his toe print. Ratnayake’s mother fighting back the tears recalled that it was a pressure mine in Mullaitivu in 1991 that handicapped her beloved son.

Hailing from Gomarankadawala and a family of 11, Ratnayake had joined the Army in 1987. After serving in Trinco, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Galle and Matara, his final station was Mullaitivu where he fell victim to a pressure bomb.

He says he got a new lease of life when he came to the Ranaviru rest in Ragama after receiving treatment at hospitals in Palaly, Anuradhapura and army hospital in Colombo.
“After coming to Ragama and associating with my comrades I realised life was not all over,” Ratnayake who lives with his parents in Mihintale said.

Kumudulatha who hails from Ingiriya has won the 800, 3000 and 5000, metre races at national level. “I met Ratnayake at a wedding and I felt compassion towards him as I saw him because of his disability. We soon fell in love. I am a religious person and my dream was to find a faithful husband and I have found one in Ratnayake. I will look after him all my life,” a happy Kumudulatha said.