'Grandpa tried to sell girls'

2005-01-13 12:38

Batapola - Police have arrested a 63-year-old Sri Lankan man on charges of trying to sell his two young granddaughters after their home was destroyed and their mother killed by the Asian tsunami - a case that highlights the vulnerability of children in the wake of the disaster.

The United Nations and international aid agencies have expressed concern that child traffickers are exploiting the chaos in countries hit hardest by the tsunami, and trying to abduct and then sell orphans into forced labour or the sex trade.

The arrest on Monday of AH Somadasa at a relief camp in the southern village of Batapola was the first official case since the tsunami of child trafficking in Sri Lanka, which has a history of pedophiles and sex tourism.

In Indonesia, where there have been confirmed cases of attempted child trafficking, the concerns are serious enough that the government has placed restrictions on youngsters leaving the country, ordered police to be on the lookout for trafficking and posted guards in refugee camps.

Released on bail

Somadasa was brought before a magistrate on Tuesday in the coastal town of Balapitiya and released on bail, police Inspector W D T Wijesena said. The two girls, age 7 and 9, were released into the custody of their father.

The suspect's lawyer, Sumith Dhammika de Silva, insisted his client was innocent, saying there was no evidence Somadasa tried to sell the girls. He said two foreigners had come to the shelter offering to help the family but apparently had secret intentions of buying the children.

At a temporary relief camp at a Buddhist temple, Somadasa's relatives backed his claims of innocence, saying two men, one English and another Indian, had visited the camp several times, asking about orphans and offering to aid the family.

"They told me they wanted to come help children with no father or mother," said the girls' aunt, A H Dammi Pushpakanthi.

"They never said anything about selling the children. My father would never sell the children. He had seven girls and he never sold us."

The two men - whom she described as a heavyset Englishman named John wearing a white T-shirt and beige shorts and a bald Indian called himself Ranjev - had said they were staying at a hotel in nearby Bentota, Pushpakanthi said.

The head monk at the temple, Batapola Namda, corroborated part of the family's account, saying two foreigners came to the camp at least twice. But Namda said the men's driver overheard them talking about buying children and alerted police.

The monk said he did not know if the grandfather offered to sell the children.

However, police inspector Wijesena said the foreigners were the ones who tipped off police.

Pushpakanthi, 34, said the incident has brought great shame to a family already struggling with the loss of her sister, 29-year-old Rukshi, and their beachfront home. - AP

- SAPA