News
|
||||
After
the tests, fate of ‘Baby 81’ couriered to Kalmunai Magistrate The tests were carried out in private a laboratory in Colombo and the results were sent by courier on Friday. Meanwhile Dr. Maya Gunasekera, Chief Executive Officer of the Gene Tech lab, said there were reports of attempts by some media organisations to bribe postal authorities to find out the test results before it reached the Magistrate. She said the fate of Baby 81 had to be couriered and not sent by registered post, because of the need to protect the confidentiality of the report. Reacting angrily to suggestions from some doctors in Kalmunai that the DNA testing should be done in Singapore, Dr. Gunasekera said, "Obviously they are ignorant". She said she was surprised by this reaction as it was common knowledge that DNA testing had been carried out in Sri Lanka since 1999, both on court orders and private requirements. "Our clinic has done DNA testing for people throughout the country including the North and the East. Most common are the paternity tests. DNA tests have also been done for cases involving suicide bombings," Dr. Gunasekera said. She also said that like in the case of Baby 81, where the test would have cost a lot, it was reduced on humanitarian agrounds. "Where Baby 81 was concerned both a paternity and a maternity DNA test was carried out. We told the UNICEF which facilitated the testing that it would cost Rs. 9,000 which is probably the cheapest in the world. We ensure that the testing is accurate and if necessary we repeat the tests," Dr. Gunasekera said. A UNICEF spokesperson when contacted said their task had been to fund the test and supervise the DNA comparison of the baby and that of Junitha and Murugupillai Jeyarajah who have emphatically claimed to be the parents of the three-and-a-half-month-old baby who miraculously escaped the tsunami catastrophe. "If the couple says that they want the tests repeated, we will have to see if we would be able to fund them again. We will have to wait for the next court hearing," the spokesperson said.a Lawyer
calls for probe on hospital "It is imperative that an investigation be held. The hospital authorities acted in a suspicious manner. “They had removed the baby from the ward without informing any child care officer and had not informed the police until eight days later, when the alleged parents had lodged a police complaint that they could not find their baby in hospital. This is the first of a list of violations on the part of the hospital authorities. They also gave false information to the media, stating that there were many couples claiming the baby. “There is no evidence that anyone other than this couple was claiming the baby as the hospital authorities had not noted down any names of the said couples," Mr. Manarudeen said. The Sunday Times last week reported K. Pushparani, a nurse at the Kalmunai hospital stating that the she took the baby as far as Ampara and that her family had 'cared for the baby' until she had been asked to give the baby back to the hospital in the wake of the couple insisting that the baby was theirs. The Sunday Times further quoted Dr. K. Muruganantham, the Medical Superintendent of the hospital stating that he gave the baby to the nurse for 'safe keeping'. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
