Sri Lankan’s high hopes end in gruesome tragedy in UK
by Amanda Abalakada

Tavisha Lankidu Peiris ,a graduate of the SLIIT, Malambe, Sri
Lanka
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Higher education in a foreign country is still a luxury which many
local parents can ill-afford for their children. Yet the few who
achieved this goal brag that their offspring will one day reach
professional heights in their home country. But for Thavisha’s parents
this was only a distant dream. Thavisha Peiris, the 25 year-old Sri
Lankan student went to England in 2011 to study at the Sheffield Hallam
University. He was working full time delivering pizza when fate struct a
cruel blow on a freezing night in Sheffield.
Peiris was all set to return to Sri Lanka in November but destiny
decided otherwise for the young talented engineering graduate. His
parents keenly looked forward to the arrival of their talented were
dumbfounded when they heard that he had been brutally killed and his
remains would only reach Sri Lanka.
Tavisha Lankidu Peiris resided in Koswatta, Nawala with his parents
and a brother. He was an obedient teenager fond of his parents and made
every effort to pass all examinations that came his way. His parents who
recognised his ability granted him whatever were within their means to
fulfil his future dream.
According to his teachers at the President’s College, Rajagiriya
Thavisha was the cynosure of all eyes. He took part in many sports at
the school with his friends and never neglected studies.

On graduation at Sheffield Hallam University, South Yorkshire,
UK. |
Having left school, he joined the Sri Lanka Institute of Information
Technology (SLIIT), Malambe. Completing his initial education in
information technology at the SLIIT, Thavisha decided to go to the
United Kingdom for further studies. He got himself admitted to Sheffield
Hallam University as an IT student in 2011.
Thavisha lived with five friends under the same roof in a shared
student accommodation. After obtaining his degree from the Sheffield
Hallam University he had joined the pizza shop as a delivery man to earn
some pocket money. “He was a bright, hard-working, intelligent and
caring man who had worked hard to develop his career in Sheffield,” one
of his friends disclosed.
“We cannot believe what happened to my brother. We had a lot of
expectations for him. On October 25 he wished his father on his
birthday. We were confident that he was safe and healthy the way he
spoke to us. He was doing well and living happily in the UK and was
planning to return to Sri Lanka at the end of this year,” his elder
brother told the Sunday Observer.
According to his brother, Thavisha was an devout Buddhist who he had
taught in a Sunday School whilst pursuing his higher studies. Loyal and
humble, he lived a solitary life.
He had been working at Domino Pizza in Halifax Road having completed
his degree in IT at Sheffield Hallam University in 2011. “My mother,
father and I were anxiously waiting to welcome him when he returns to
Sri Lanka with a degree, he said.
On that fateful day we had come to know that he was stabbed to death
in Sheffield and was found dead at the wheel of his car at night in
Southey, Sheffield. We were also told that he was on his way to deliver
a pizza. Tavisha had left the restaurant to make a delivery in Southey
Crescent and when the customer called to say he had not arrived, his
colleagues went looking for him.
His death is a tragedy that has caused untold grief to his mother,
father and brother and many of his friends in Sri Lanka as well as in
Sheffield. This tragedy is an eye-opener for parents who send their
children to foreign countries for higher education, spending their hard
earned money.
It should also awaken the diplomatic community to raise the issue of
the safety of Sri Lankan students studying in overseas educational
institutes.
Pix: Nanda Ekanayaka, Kotte Central Gr. Cor.
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