Thursday, 17 February 2005The four-month-old boy who was swept from his mother's arms in the Asian tsunami was handed to his parents in a joyous courtroom reunion Wednesday, after an agonizing custody battle that lasted nearly eight weeks.
Smiling with relief, Jenita Jeyarajah took the boy who came to be known as "Baby 81" from a doctor's arms in a courtroom packed with onlookers after the judge said DNA tests confirmed he was her son Abilass.
"Look how happy he is! He knows the scent of his parents!" gushed the father, Murugupillai Jeyarajah. "After returning to us, he still hasn't cried." The infant was found on a beach among bodies and debris on December 26, the day the killer waves struck. He was taken to a hospital in the eastern town of Kalmunai, where he was given the name Baby 81, because he was the day's 81st admission.
He was quickly claimed by nine couples, symbolizing the anguish of thousands of families who lost children in the disaster, but only Jeyarajahs pressed the claim in court.
The couple went straight from the court to a Hindu temple to give thanks for their son's return and smash a coconut in ritual fulfillment of a vow.
Relatives joined them, chanting prayers and raising their hands in worship as the father carried the child, who was dressed in blue, around the shrine.
The relieved parents also paid a brief visit to the rubble of their home, where the raging waters swept away the boy.
Later Wednesday, the Jeyarajahs reached their temporary residence ÔÇô a modest, concrete, one-story house where Jenita's aunt lives with her family.
The baby was put in a small cot on the tiled living room floor, while the parents entertained a sea of visitors and proudly showed their son. Abilass sported a "mottu" on his forehead ÔÇô a black stain to ward off evil that was painted by nurses in the hospital. His name is rooted in the Sanskrit word "abhilasha," meaning aspiration or desire.
The excitement overwhelmed Murugupillai's father, Sinnaphurai, 60, who fainted in the courtroom and had to be taken to the same hospital where his grandson had stayed.
The Jeyarajahs initially couldn't prove Abilass was theirs because family records disappeared in the tsunami.
The hospital refused to release the baby until the matter was settled in court.
It has been a wrenching seven weeks for the couple.
Forbidden to even pick up their son, the Jeyarajahs at one point barged into the hospital to get the baby and were briefly detained after a scuffle with the staff. The parents then threatened to commit suicide unless the baby was returned to them.
On February 8, the couple and the baby traveled separately to a Colombo clinic for DNA testing, paid for by UNICEF.
At Wednesday's court proceedings, Judge M.P. Mohaideen officially declared the couple to be the boy's parents, apologized for the inconvenience and wished Abilass a prosperous future.
Murugupillai, a barber, said he planned to stay with Abilass for several days before returning to work.
"I want to teach my child well and bring him up as any other parents would," Murugupillai told The Associated Press, cradling the boy in his arms. |
Thursday, 17 February 2005
Associated Press via Jerusalem Post
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