Mystery surrounds the alleged kidnapping of a new born baby girl from the Castle Street maternity hospital recently.
The mother, a Muslim who gave birth to the baby claimed that she found the child missing when she went to see her in the baby room. Hospital authorities say that a child could not be removed from hospital before registration.
Director Castle Street Hospital Dr. Amerasinghe told ‘The Sunday Times’ that it was the first time that a baby had been lifted. Authorities are inquiring into the incident.
‘We have checked the patient’s bed-head ticket and we are in the process of questioning the staff on duty at the time of the alleged kidnapping. It is unlikely that it is an inside job.
“In an incident like this the mother should have made a complaint to the police immediately. But in this case she had gone to the police late, name of the father is not recorded. However we are keen that investigations are carried out. Generally a child is sold for about Rs.10,000, the Director said.
The baby’s mother, M. M. Nasoor who was warded at the Kalubowila Hospital, said she got labour pains and was admitted to the Castle Street Hospital where she gave birth to a daughter by Caesarean section on May 28.
I saw my baby daughter once. But later the baby was taken to the baby room. When I went there after I was discharged from hospital to get my baby I was told she was missing,” she said.
She vaguely recollected how she went in search of her child. With the help of a friend I got the address of a couple whom she was tild had the baby. I went to their house at Dehiwela.
They showed me the child and said that I must give them Rs. 4000. The following day I went again and was told go to the police.
She still does not know how her child was taken away. “These last few days have been hectic for me. I only want to go home with my child” she said exhausted.
The Borella police who are investigating have taken the couple into custody. “From what we gather she is a single parent.
We believe that there is more to the kidnapping than meets the eye,” said the OIC Czrimes.
Three Papua New Guineans - a top lawyer, the brother and a close relative of Joel Pera, the star ruggerite who was gunned down near Carlton Club, Kollupitiya in the wee hours of the May Day - are due here shortly.
Kumar Ponnambalam, counsel watching the interests of the deceased’s family, will handover a memorandum to the Pera family what he described as ‘deviations from the straight and narrow path’, on last week’’s court decision to discharge Lohan Ratwatte on the advice of the Attorney General.
Lohan and two other suspects in the Pera shooting case were released.
Mr. Ponnambalam said that the alternative in the circumstances was to file a private plaint but that would not be successful as patently there was no support from the police.
He said that theoretically the case against Lohan could be re-opened.
The counsel pointed out that had the ‘Paraffin Test’ been resorted to the result might have been different. The test is done basically to ascertain whether the accused in question has used a fire-arm recently and obviously this has to be performed soon after the crime if it is to produce results.
Government Analyst’s Department contended that the Paraffin Test was quite outdated and now there were more modern methods such as instrumental techniques and the Wet-Reagent test. However, they declined to say whether any other test was done in this connection.
Mr. Ponnambalam retorted, “Call it by any name. This clearly shows that there were better and more modern techniques available to the investigators. Lohan Ratwatte was remanded in custody about a month later although his name was mentioned right from the beginning. The question is whether any of these tests was in fact done.”
A highrise satellite tower set up by a cellular phone company in Diyagala, off Ragama, has exposed the meditation centre of a religious movement and hundreds of residents to destruction and possible death from lightning, a spokesman for the movement said.
Keerthi Kularatne, liaison officer for the Kithudana Pubuduwa (Catholic Renewal Movement) said their sprawling meditation and spiritual training Aramaya in Diyagala have been severely affected in recent years with considerable damage to electronic equipment and the telephone system, besides the danger to life from regular lightning strikes.
They believed the satellite tower was the principal cause.
He said those in the Aramaya and residents of the area had noticed balls of fire running along the electric wires.
Many poor residents have also complained that their TV sets and other appliances have been damaged.
The Christian movement and residents are appealing to local authorities and the company to take immediate action to remedy the situation.
An engineer of the phone company told The Sunday Times it was unlikely that the satallite tower was posing a threat as the company had installed a protection system to it.
“This area has a high density but still if there is lightning it is the tower which will be affected.
We have not received complaints from the villagers but if they explain what exactly the problem is our engineers would help them out. If any damage has been done we are more than ready to pay compensation,’’ he said.
A.P.J Cherical a little known and unsung hero in journalism died suddenly in Canada and was buried there on Thursday, while a Memorial Mass was held at the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in Thimbirigasaya where the veteran journalist was born and where his father served as a pastor.
Affectionately known as Cheri (dear in French) to his colleagues and friends, Abraham Peter Jacob Cherical died at the age of 68 after carrying out some rare all round feats in journalism.
Starting as a courts reporter at the ‘Sun /Weekend’ newspaper group Cheri gradually emerged as one of its top writers though often he wrote copies for others and seldom or never wanted his byline. He later served as News Editor.
From there the quiet and humble genius moved to the ‘Daily Mirror’ and then to the newly established ‘Island’ newspaper where he was the chief Sub-Editor. Colleagues at all these newspapers said they remembered him as a low profile but large hearted man who freely gave his time and talent to others.
After a stint as an imaginative copywriter for a local advertising agency, Cheri went to Canada where he became the Editor of a regional newspaper.
A longstanding friend of Cheri from their schooldays at S. Thomas’ Mt. Lavinia said after the memorial service he had met Cheri in Canada and found that he was dearly missing the simple lifestyle of Sri Lanka, a plain tea at a canteen and thosai at Saiva hotel.
Out of the limelight Cheri chose to live and work- and in a sense out of the limelight he passed away as perhaps he would have liked. May his soul rest in the Peace of God.
A witness in a murder case has been sentenced to four years imprisonment for perjury.
In this case, before the North-East High Court, Francis Soosapillai has been charged with the murder of Masilamani Kristhuthasan in 1991.
Mohamed Ibrahim Najimudeen giving evidence stated that he had not seen the incident. At that stage State Counsel B.Sasimahendra told court the witness was going back on his statement given to the police.
The Trincomalee Magistrate has come down hard on Kasippu traders and imposed heavy fines on two dealers totalling Rs: 112,000.
One dealer was fined Rs.84,000 and another Rs. 28,000 by Magistrate P.Swarnaraj.
Almost everyday or night in the Dehiwela, Mt. Lavinia, Ratmalana, Moratuwa and other southern places, knife-weilding groups break open shops and collect whatever booty is available. Likewise houses are vulnerable even when the occupants are in.
On May 8 two Catholic priests were herded together in a room in their parish while three knife-weilding youths who had entered the premises earlier rapped on the bedroom door of Fr. Edward Revel and demanded money at knife point. This was at 5.30 a.m. He said he didn’t have any and they could find something in the church till. The two other priests also entered the room. They were all pushed against the wall and told not to move. Then the room was ransacked and personal belongings such as wrist watches, radios and other items including personal gifts Fr. Revel had received for his 50th jubilee as a priest, money from the church tills and what the sacristan had as collections to be sent to the Archbishops House were taken. As a parting warning they were asked not to move for sometime.
Needless to say as in most other cases this will end up as an unsolved crime perhaps the big robbery recently at the Keells Supermarket which was a day’s collection of more than 4 lakhs. According to various sources, the entire gang which stole the money was identifiable on the high-tech video cameras installed in the premises. Some people said that two SIs of a nearby Police Station too were identified among the gang. But the new story seems to be now that the tape is somewhat blurred which makes identification not possible.
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