The saga of little Pathum

by Rosanne Koelmeyer Anderson

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'Nobody's child, I'm nobody's child', reminiscence of that sad old song comes to mind. 'Maternal love ! Thou word that sums up all bliss'. But it may not have been for this little child who may be one among the many children who go through similar situations day in and day out repressing their silent cry; for these little hearts their destiny seems to hold no other than loss, grief and pain.

Devoid of his mother's love and soft embrace over the most crucial years of his childhood, the saga of confusion and contradiction about the much talked of little Pathum who was about five years old and alleged to have been ill treated came to an end on Tuesday, March 25, when the Kebbithigollawe Magistrates Court gave the child back to the guardian and ordered that the child's mother be asked to return to Sri Lanka.

The controversy about the child being found subsequent to the tsunami and taken for adoption was dismissed when the truth of the saga was revealed in court. The child was not found to be ill treated according to the Police.

Meanwhile, the inmate of the household, a young married woman Niwanthi from Horowpathana and her 19 year old brother Malith Thilanga of Seenigama, Hikkaduwa who were taking care of the child were arrested and produced before the Kebbithigollawe Magistrate's Court for alleged ill treatment of the child and released on a Rs. 250,000 surety bail each and ordered to refrain from taking the child out of the district for any reason.

The court ordered that the child be sent to school too, HQI Gamini Fernando told the 'Sunday Observer'. The case was put off for June 29.However, the Police revealed that Niwanthi was only teaching the child finer points of etiquette and table manners.

Wonder what would have crossed the child's mind at each point of time; from Seenigama in Hikkaduwa to the outskirts of Anuradhapura in Horowpathana, being taken from pillar to post as it were; a sad plight of many a child today.

Little Pathum had been about 1 1/2 years when his mother had handed him over to Malith Thilanga's mother who apparently was a distant relative who resided in Seenigama, Hikkaduwa. Shortly after the tsunami in 2004 the child was handed over to Malith's mother prior to her departure to West Asia.

Malith Thilanga revealed that it was his mother who had been taking care of little Pathum. She had passed away recently and since then he had been taking care of the child for a short while.

He had now found employment so he had taken the child to his sister's at Horowpathana to leave the child in her care. This was when a neighbour on suspicion had called the 119 and informed of a child being housed and ill treated at a house in Horowpathana.

The Police team had promptly called at the said house to find the child missing. Niwanthi had informed the Police that the child was not there at the time as her brother had taken him away to her father's house at Seenigama the previous day.

However, on the following day the Police had received another call that a youth was taking the child to Anuradhapura in a bus and the Mihintale Police were informed. They had stopped the bus and arrested Malith and Pathum. Malith had revealed that the story of how the child came to live with them but no birth certificate or any documents were available to trace the child's identity.

The only clue revealed to the public to trace the child's identity initially was the birth mark on Pathum's neck and his approximate age.

As little Pathum kept answering IP L. G. Sanjeewani of the Horowpathana Police the little child had repeatedly kept saying his mother was abroad and he cannot remember her. Apparently, Pathum's mother is said to have come to Sri Lanka only once since she left the shores.

What may be going on in the mind of little Pathum would remain unknown, yet life has to go on.... for who knows what tomorrow will hold? Dig NCP, K. P. P. Pathirana, ASP Anura Seneratne, HQI Gamini Fernando and IP Sanjeevani led the investigations.