Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education.
Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the families torn apart by one of the worst natural calamities in modern history, but it also offered hope. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed, with others missing.
The two-month-old was washed away by the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and found some distance from home by rescuers. At the hospital, he was No. 81 on the admissions registry.
Photo: AP
His father, Murugupillai Jayarasa, spent three days searching for his scattered family, with little left to his name in those early hours but a pair of shorts.
First he found his mother, then his wife, but their infant son was missing.
A nurse had taken the baby from the hospital, but returned him after hearing that his family was alive.
However, the ordeal was far from over. Nine other families had submitted their names to the hospital, claiming “Baby 81” as their own, so the hospital administration refused to hand over the child to Jayarasa and his wife without proof.
The family went to the police. The matter went to court. The judge ordered a DNA test, a process that was still in its early stages in Sri Lanka.
However, none of the nine other families claimed the baby legally and no DNA testing was done on them, Jayarasa said.
“The hospital named the child ‘Baby 81’ and listed the names of nine people who claimed the child, omitting us,” he said. “There was a public call to all those who said the child was theirs to subject themselves for DNA testing, but none of them came forward.”
Jayarasa said his family gave DNA samples and it was proven the child was theirs.
Soon, the family was reunited.
Today, Abilash is sitting for his final high-school exam. Solid and good-natured, he hopes to attend a university to study information technology.
He said he grew up hearing about his story from his parents, while classmates teased him by calling him “Baby 81” or “tsunami baby.” He was embarrassed, and it worsened every time the anniversary of the tsunami arrived.
“I used to think: ‘Here they have come’ and run inside and hide myself,” he told reporters.
His father said the boy was so upset he would not eat at times.
“I consoled him saying: ‘Son, you are unique in being the only one to have such a name in this world,’” he said.
Later, as a teenager, Abilash read more about the events that tore him from his family and brought him back, and he lost his fear.
He knows that the nickname will follow him, but that is all right.
“Now I only take it as my code word,” he said, joking: “If you want to find me out, access that code word.”
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS