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| Sunday, 23 May 2004 |
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Udara breathed his last in hunger Text and Picture by Prasad Gunewardene Udara Chaturanga, a fifteen-year-old student from Unawatuna, Galle cycled in a hurry to buy a loaf of bread around 5.45 in the evening of May 19 having had no meal from morning. Born to a poor family where his father assisted in a fish stall in the market, Udara was a brilliant student in grade nine at Sudarma Vidyalaya, Galle. Eye witnesses said the child was cycling at the edge of the road along the Galle Road stretch at Unawatuna for safety when a cement lorry approaching from behind knocked him down. Udara was caught between the front and rear tyre of the cement-loaded lorry. In a second his life was snatched away by this cruel act of the driver of the lorry. Udara who had no meal from morning that day suddenly realised he had twenty rupees inside one of his text books. This money had been given to him by one of his uncles who visited him sometime ago. As the mother fed his little brother aged five with some biscuits left at home, Udara looked on in hunger that day. Realising he had money inside the text book, he told his mother not to worry, he would buy some bread and come home. "Amma, don't worry, I will ride at the edge of the tar road and nothing will happen to me", little Udara consoled the mother when she warned him to ride carefully. As Udara breathed his last in hunger under the lorry, pandemonium broke out at the scene of the accident. The lorry driver and the cleaner escaped from the scene.Crowds pulled out bags of cement and flung them on the road. Adding more problems to the excitement, the police arrived at the scene shooting in the air in a bid to frighten and disperse the crowd. People ran helter/skelter and another young boy who ran in fear fell and was seriously wounded in the stampede. He was rushed to the hospital. The crowds screamed at the Police till late night for their inability to arrest the driver and the cleaner. The lorry belonged to the famous Ambuja Cement Company and the residents suspected the delay in the arrest of the suspects. An eye witness, Premani De Silva told the police that Udara was riding safely at the edge of the road when a cement lorry coming from behind hit him. "He was thrown under the lorry and I closed my eyes to avoid the tragic scene", she had explained. Udara's father, K. Pushpananda said he got the news of the son's accident to the fish stall and when he arrived at the scene, police had been firing in the air. Later, Superintendent of Police Galle, Nihal Kalansuriya had arrived and had managed to bring the situation under control. "I lost my treasured son and the arrogant conduct of the police led to another child being wounded in an unwarranted stampede", he told the "Sunday Observer". Udara, the eldest of four boys and a sister in the family has had many hopes for his family,his mother Champa Nilmini said unable to bear the grief adding that the son wanted to study well and do a good job to look after the family. This little Udara has had many a day in starvation, according to their family. But, he had been punctual in school despite his hunger to study. It was unfortunate that his destiny was to die in hunger. While many affluent people in the cities send their sons to dance at top hotels spending thousands for one night, there are many more Udaras' in our villages who have to forego meals and study to become worthy citizens of this country. The cruel hand of death snatched one of them and that is this little boy Udara Chaturanga of Unawatuna. |
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