Baby 81 to undergo DNA testing
2005-02-02 14:00
Kalmunai - A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered DNA tests be carried out on a baby who survived December's tsunami disaster and on a couple claiming to be the boy's parents, sparking uproar in this eastern town.
The couple broke down in tears and threatened to commit suicide after magistrate MP Mohideen issued the order, as relatives sought to calm them.
"The court is ordering today DNA tests be conducted on the parents and the child even though the parents are the only couple claiming the child," Mohideen told a packed courthouse.
"Until then the custody of the child will be with the hospital and the parents can see the child as per hospital rules."
The DNA test order was triggered after a lawyer representing the District Child Protection Committee asked for the procedure.
"Tomorrow if we come to know that the present couple are not the real parents then what happens to the baby?" asked lawyer Shaul H Moulavi Manarudeen in his submission.
"It is necessary that the tests be conducted considering the vast nature of tsunami disaster with hundreds of parents reporting missing children and vice versa."
The magistrate accepted his argument. "Initially the court felt that DNA test was not required as there is only one claimant, but after the submissions of the doctor and lawyer the court is ordering the tests," Mohideen said.
"The DNA test is important as it will prove whether they are the real parents."
Manarudeen hoped results from the tests would be available within 10 days, although the court ordered the next hearing for April 20.
Junitha Jeyarajah, the woman who claims to be the child's mother, and her husband offered prayers at a temple overnight and had earlier been confident of recovering the child.
They claimed to have been separated by the waves which smashed into Kalmunai on December 26. The four-month-old boy was rescued from under a heap of garbage after the deadly waves subsided.
After the magistrate issued the order, Jeyarajah broke down outside the court.
"There is no need for a DNA test, this is our son," she said, as her husband held unidentified tablets in his hand - threatening to kill himself by swallowing them.
"This is not justice," Jeyarajah said.
The baby has been dubbed "Baby 81" because he because he was the 81st patient admitted to Kalmunai hospital on December 26.
The district court in Kalmunai had ordered two weeks ago that the baby, whose case attracted world headlines, be handed over to Jeyarajah. But doctors said the boy was too ill to be discharged from hospital.
Kalmunai district court registrar MS Mohamed Nazeer said only Jeyarajah had claimed the child, dismissing media reports that she was only one of several mothers claiming the child.
- AFP