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finally buried Rasika Twenty-year-old Rasika Savitri was the youngest of a family of five. After her father passed away when she was only eight years old, she had learnt to be independent at an early age and helped her mother in household chores, other members of the family said. She was employed at the Tangalle Nature Resort and on that fateful day the killer waves had engulfed her but there was no trace of her body. After two weeks of searching the family gave up all attempts, Rasika's brother Prabath Ranga told The Sunday Times. He said soon after the tsunami struck, family members had gone to Tangalle and they were told that many people from the resort had run to a house nearby. "When we went to the house we were told that Rasika had not been among the group that had sought shelter. We were later able to trackdown a cook from the resort who was in hospital and he said he had seen Rasika being dragged away to sea. Although we couldn't find her body, we held an alms giving in her memory." "Towards the end of April, we heard that a British forensic team had dug up a mass grave in Tangalle and were trying to identify the dead. We were able to identify Rasika's body by the earrings and her room key that was found on the body. The forensic experts then took some tissue samples from the remains of the body and from my mother and sent them to the USA for DNA testing. A few weeks later we were told that the tests had proved that was Rasika's body and we gave her a proper burial on May 15. All funeral expenses were met by the British Forensic team," Prabath said. |
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