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Two
days after Prasanna sang happy b'day on the phone, he was killed,
say family members who recall his dreams That day was Shashika's 20th birthday and the proud father called home just as the cake was being cut around 7 p.m. He asked that the speaker on the phone be turned on so that he could join in the celebrations although he was thousands of miles away. They all heard him singing "Happy birthday to you" loud and clear over the phone's speaker and it helped to an extent to fill the vacuum they felt of not having him there in person. Five days later, they received a call from London. This time there was no celebration. The caller broke the news that the 42-year-old father of four was dead. He had died after lying unconscious in a hospital bed for four days after being attacked by a stranger outside a underground railway station in West London. A man had apparently punched Prasanna in the face after he accidentally stepped on a child's foot and was bending down to apologise to him. The punch had caught him off guard and made him fall. In the process he hit his head on the pavement and lost consciousness. The incident occurred on May 2 and on May 5 Prasanna died without regaining consciousness. The incident was caught on closed-circuit camera and the Police are now on the lookout for the culprit. Far removed from the scene of the incident, Prasanna's wife, Sudanthika Hemamali is trying to hold herself together for the sake of their four children and awaiting the arrival of her husband's mortal remains for the final farewell. "Prasanna was planning to come home in June. He wouldn't tell me the day he was coming. He said he wanted to surprise us," Sudanthika said as she sat on a sofa huddled with their four children as shocked relatives and friends gathered at their modest home in Hulftsdorp. Prasanna had left for Britain in July 2000 and was employed in a shop in London. His youngest daughter Panchani was just six months old when he left the country with hopes of providing a better life for his family. His children were his main concern and during telephone calls he made regularly as well as in letters and cards, he poured out his feelings for his children and his dreams for their future. In the card he sent his only son Nipuna Madhushanka on his birthday in February this year, Prasanna advised him to grow up to be a good citizen of the country. "My wish is you become more learned and intelligent than me and reach great heights in life," Prasanna wrote on the card to his son, who plays under 15-cricket for his school, Asoka Vidyalaya, Colombo. For his elder daughter Sashika, a bio-science student, he had similar expectations. He wanted her to become a doctor. The tragic news of his death reached the family on May 5, the day before Shashika was to sit for her advanced level exam. Now the exams have been pushed to the background as the family tries to come to terms with the reality of the tragic end to the life of a loving and dutiful husband and father. Did the killer know that the blow he dealt on Prasanna was also a blow on the family? |
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