Tragedy in Waikkal

‘I lost my children. What have they done to be killed? What wrong have they done to them?’  

The mother’s weeping was heartbreaking.  
The screaming of Nilmini Fernando, the mother of the two children recently hacked to death in Waikkal, filled the air. It was an agony unbearable for those who witnessed it and had seen the dead children and the mother.  
The younger brother, who was playing at home and his sister, instantly fell an easy prey to the cruel villain.  
A dispute that had began some time back over a water drain near the victims’ house, had deepened to take the lives of two innocent children, as revealed in the preliminary Police investigation.  
The girl, G.P. Gimhari Nisheli Rupasinghe (19), was a student of Dankotuwa Balika Vidyalaya and sat for the G.C.E. (A/L) examination recently and was a student in the math stream.  
Her brother, who embraced death with her, Sahan Methsara Rupasinghe (8) was a year two student of St. Mary’s Preliminary School in Nainamadama.  

"A dispute that had began some time back over a water drain near the victims’ house, had deepened to take the lives of two innocent children, as revealed in the preliminary Police investigation "

Nisheli was studious and had obtained distinction passes in eight subjects with one B pass and was bright among other students and was an active member of the school prefect team in 2017-2018.
Her brother Sahan was also very enthusiastic in learning. There is another daughter in the bereaved family. She was a year 10 student.
The mother, Nilmini, was weeping profoundly while she related the tragic incident that had befallen their family.  
“My son was playing in the house with a toy car. I was drying the washed clothes on the upper floor.  
“Suddenly my younger daughter came screaming towards me,” the mother said.  
“They had slashed our son with a sword. I rushed to the spot. My son was lying in a pool of blood. I took the child in my arms and ran to the road. I was screaming aloud. It took 10 minutes for us to get a vehicle.  

"Nisheli was studious and had obtained distinction passes in eight subjects with one B pass and was bright among other students and was an active member of the school prefect team in 2017-2018"

We rushed to the Negombo Hospital. When passing Kochchikade I noticed that my son’s head was leaning to a side. At the hospital, doctors attended to my son quickly. Then I was told about the sad truth.”  
It was not the end of her sad story. She was weeping and continued feebly.  
“At the same time, my elder daughter was brought to the hospital. Then I was not aware that the cruel man had also hacked my daughter,” she said.  
“My younger daughter lost her sister and brother and now she is alone,” she was crying.  
We also talked to the father, Hemantha, who is an electrician.  

“I have three children two daughters and a son. The dead are my elder daughter and son. My younger daughter has had a narrow escape. The cruel beast could have killed her too. However, he had taken away my two children. This man also has a child. He was so cruel to kill a child playing at home. How can I bear this cruelty,” he said.  
“This man tried to kill others too in my family. My mother had just finished her meal and was washing her hands at the time. He had hacked my elder daughter when she was cleaning her teeth. The other daughter has run away screaming in fear.  
My wife was on the upper floor at the time, arranging the clothes,” he said.  
“When this unfortunate incident happened I was not at home. It was about 9.40 in the morning. I was away at the time doing some repair work on the water motor of a nearby house. A neighbour came running and told me that my son and daughter have been hacked with a sword. He also said that my mother was seen lying on the floor and asked me to hurry and see what had happened.”  He continued, 

“I rushed home and saw my elder daughter lying on the ground. I took her to the Negombo Hospital. I think she was dead by then.  
I had begun a small shop. There were obstacles to this. Even the Pradeshiya Sabha officials wanted me to close it. I asked them not to hinder our means of living. There was also a complaint in the police.  
Had the police and the Pradeshiya Sabha done their duties lawfully, my children could have been saved.”  
The schoolmates and the staff of Nisheli and Sahan flocked to their residence from the time they got to know about the unfortunate death of their friend. 

Courtesy: Lankadeepa