01-14-2005, 06:42 PM
<b>9 women claiming 'Baby 81' in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka
Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Nine different women are claiming an infant boy called "Baby 81" who was brought to a hospital in eastern Sri Lanka on the day of the tsunami last month, officials said Friday.
The boy, whose real name was not known, was taken to Kalmunai Base Hospital on Dec. 26 covered with bruises and mud, Dr. K.R. Saseenthirian said. The child, who was alone, was the 81st admission of the day.
"Parents who have lost their children come everyday to the hospital to check," Saseenthirian said in a telephone interview. "Some go back, and some stay and claim that the baby is theirs."
[b]Hospital officials said nine women have claimed the baby. The women have quarreled with each other and one has threatened to commit suicide if she is not given the baby, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity.
Hospital authorities have asked police to investigate, Saseenthirian said. </b>
"Now it will have to be a court decision. If the court ask us to conduct DNA tests, we will do that," Saseenthirian said. But he said the tests are expensive and it is unclear who would pay.
Children accounted for a staggering 40 percent, or 12,000, of Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll of nearly 31,000.
UNICEF says preliminary data indicate that nearly 1,000 children were orphaned by the tsunami in Sri Lanka and another 3,200 lost one parent.
January 14, 2005
Last modified January 14, 2005 - 8:05 am
Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Nine different women are claiming an infant boy called "Baby 81" who was brought to a hospital in eastern Sri Lanka on the day of the tsunami last month, officials said Friday.
The boy, whose real name was not known, was taken to Kalmunai Base Hospital on Dec. 26 covered with bruises and mud, Dr. K.R. Saseenthirian said. The child, who was alone, was the 81st admission of the day.
"Parents who have lost their children come everyday to the hospital to check," Saseenthirian said in a telephone interview. "Some go back, and some stay and claim that the baby is theirs."
[b]Hospital officials said nine women have claimed the baby. The women have quarreled with each other and one has threatened to commit suicide if she is not given the baby, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity.
Hospital authorities have asked police to investigate, Saseenthirian said. </b>
"Now it will have to be a court decision. If the court ask us to conduct DNA tests, we will do that," Saseenthirian said. But he said the tests are expensive and it is unclear who would pay.
Children accounted for a staggering 40 percent, or 12,000, of Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll of nearly 31,000.
UNICEF says preliminary data indicate that nearly 1,000 children were orphaned by the tsunami in Sri Lanka and another 3,200 lost one parent.
January 14, 2005
Last modified January 14, 2005 - 8:05 am
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