Lives snuffed out in an instant

by Ridma Dissanayake

Like any other teenager, Sharon and Imeshi were excited about the surprise party they planned to have last Monday evening for a friend.

Everything was planned - a beach restaurant was selected, friends were invited and the parents had been told of the party. Sharon Schuilling and Imeshi Yasara Perera had only to make their presence at the venue in time for the big surprise.

"She asked her mom to drop her at the get-together, but my wife was unable to do so as she had to visit our doctor," Imeshi's father said.

Instead a friend of the family and her son drove the girls to the venue. Little did they know that the dimly lit, unprotected rail track across the Dehiwela - Mount Lavinia beach would prove their undoing.In their haste to get to the party on time, they didn't check if the track was clear. With the noise of the sea and music from the nearby restaurants drowning the sound of the engine, the two girls had no idea of the oncoming train. Seeing a friend on the other side of the rail track they dashed across the tracks without pausing.

"My son and my wife had dropped them at that place. It took a few minutes for my son to park the car and accompany them to the venue, but when he returned they had already crossed the rail track unaware of the oncoming train, the train had knocked them when they attempted to cross the track." Gamini Hewalokuge, a relative of Imeshi said.

The Dehiwala beach stretch hosts a strip of popular restaurants frequented by many patrons, particularly in the evenings. All these venues can only be reached by crossing the double rail track that runs along the coast from Colombo to Matara but in this section there are no secure crossings.

Thousands of beach-goers cross these rail tracks daily, but at 7.30 p.m. on Monday the 25th, crossing the tracks proved deadly for Imeshi and Sharon.

"There is no doubt this is a result of carelessness. Parents should be aware of their childrn's whereabouts and have control over them. Children too should take into consideration parents aspirations," said Hewalokuge.Imeshi's father was trying to come to terms with his daughter's death and believes that it was her fate that she had to die in a train accident."We have no issue with her death - that is her fate. We have no doubt Imeshi, my eldest daughter was a innocent girl. She never lies to us," he said.

Sharon was the youngest in her family. Her mother had predeceased her and she was living with her father and brother in Wellawatte.

Sharon's relatives refused to comment on her death when the Sunday Observer visited Sharon's home because some media had distorted the incident.