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Foul play in fire death?
Mother claims son was killed in Cyprus, dismisses post-mortem report as callous

A coffin a day at BIA
Every day, hundreds, if not thousands, of Sri Lankans leave from the BIA in search of greener pastures, but seven of them return in coffins every week while scores of others are buried or cremated in the countries they work.

Twenty-three bodies of Sri Lankan migrant workers have come to Sri Lanka during the first 23 days of this month while the figure for this year upto last week was 250, according to Airport and Foreign Employment Bureau sources.
Most of the migrant workers who died are in the age group of 30-40 .

The sources noted that the actual body count was much higher because some of the Sri Lankan migrant workers who die abroad are buried or cremated in the countries they worked.

The deaths have been largely due to natural causes, suicide, homicide and accidents, the sources said. The deaths have been reported from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, and as well as from Cyprus, UK, Japan, Italy, Korea and Hong Kong

Judicial medical officers say they are often faced with controversial cases in which the causes of the death given in the reports are suspicious and incomplete. They say, however, that in most cases, family members of the deceased are not eager to pursue further action because they are poor and helpless.

By Nalaka Nonis
The mother of a Sri Lankan man who died in Cyprus after suffering severe burn injuries caused by what she calls 'a mystery fire' says her son was killed and dismisses the post-mortem report sent by Cyprus authorities as callous.
A.O. Wijetunga (29) who was employed as a machine operator in a mushroom factory in Cyprus died on October 15 in a hospital there after being burnt while he was sleeping in his room.

The post-mortem report issued by Cyprus authorities claimed that Mr. Wijetunga, who is married and father of a six-month-old baby, died because he was 'simply burnt', said his mother, S. K. Perera, who added that this report had only increased her doubts that her son was killed.

Ms. Perera, who lives in Britain, said she immediately flew to Cyprus when she was informed of the incident and suspected foul play. She said she lodged a complaint with the Cyprus police but little action was taken.

She said her son had made a statement to the police and to the Cyprus national television. The police were uncooperative and the TV station had demanded 50,000 Cyprus pounds to release its record, the mother said.

"People including hospital authorities said that my son died in bed because of a fire caused by a cigarette but I don't believe this. I know he had enemies, including some Sri Lankans and a Bulgarian, and I believe that they are involved in the killing," she said.

She said her son had run up and down the stairs screaming for help, but neither the Bulgarian nor the two Sri Lankans who lived in the same apartment block offered him help. The Bulgarian, instead of attending to my son, tried to put out the fire on the bed, she charged adding that it was an outsider who had come to his help at last.

Ms. Perera claimed that the Cyprus post-mortem report left many questions unanswered but an inquest conducted upon the arrival of the body in Sri Lanka, on the contrary, said the death was caused by 'extensive burns'. She asked how a cigarette could spark off a major fire. She also charged that her pleas to the Foreign Ministry had also fallen on deaf ears.

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