A poverty stricken mother’s suicide leaves behind a helpless daughter! 

One of the country’s many tragic stories

“Many people take extreme decisions, such as suicide; in such cases, we should seek psychological help.” Psychiatrist Pavitra Godamune

Many people in this country are currently in debt. As a result, the daily news reveals that the vast majority of people fail to treat their children as parents and loved ones. Due to the debt burden, all businessmen, large and small, as well as ordinary people who make their living through daily small jobs, are severely impacted. Three days before the start of the New Year 2023, we heard news from Mirigama’s Loluwagoda Talhena village of a tragedy involving an innocent family who was severely impacted by debt and a lack of money to live on.

The tragedy is that a mother who lived in that village poisoned her two children and committed suicide by drinking the poison herself. The five-year-old son passed away on January 1 at Lady of Ridgeway Children’s Hospital due to poisoning by his mother. The poisoned daughter is receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of the same hospital.

This tragic incident occurred on February 28th. Niluka, 31, poisoned her eight-year-old daughter Manuki Dhammasa Sandipani and five-year-old son Peshan Sachintha because she couldn’t support them due to her debt burden.

The woman has a debt of three and a half lakh rupees, according to preliminary police investigations. Among the facts revealed by the police is that her husband has been doing tile work and hired work, and they have been experiencing severe financial difficulties. Because of the economic problems, the money was taken on interest, and the police discovered that various people were coming each day asking for the interest money.

In light of this circumstance, the mother in question experienced extreme emotional agony, and when she could no longer endure it, she poisoned her two cherished children and attempted suicide. The woman mixed poison in to a delicious syrup that children enjoyed so much made them to believe it as syrup.

It has now been found that she had administered a toxic chemical used to cultivate pineapples. These two innocent youngsters had drunk them. It has been revealed that the daughter drank half of the bottle of poison while the son drank an entire bottle. It is also stated that the mother and daughter lost consciousness after swallowing the poison, and the small son walked to a neighbouring house and told them about it.

When the neighbours inquired, the mother said that she had poisoned the two children and had also consumed the poison. The neighbours who arrived immediately took the two children and mother to the hospital. The mother was admitted to Watupitivala Hospital, while the two children were admitted to Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital in Colombo. On first January, the little boy, who was being treated in the intensive care unit, died.

While many people in our country rejoiced on New Year’s Eve, the village of Loluawala was filled with tears. Little son’s rites were performed at Loluwagoda Talahena Public Cemetery.

This is what the deceased child’s father had to say about the incident.

The daughter called to say that her mother had brought three bottles of honey, that she had drank one, that my brother had drank one, and that I had drank a little and spilled the rest. That’s all… my dear brother will not return…’

31-year-old Niluka Sanjeevani, who was undergoing treatment at Vatupitivala Hospital, passed away on 03rd, leaving behind her 9-year-old little daughter. This daughter continues to receive treatment in the intensive care unit. Director of Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital Dr. G. Weerasinghe said.

‘We believe that the child will recover in some way according to the current situation…’

A resident had this to say about this sad incident.

‘These sons’ father is an innocent person. He works as a tile worker. Consume no alcoholic beverages. Do not light up a cigarette. I’m not sure why sister did this. According to what I’ve heard, my sister owes a lot of people money. She was unable to make the payment. We don’t know what exactly caused this death.

This was stated by a mother from the deceased child’s preschool.

‘Oh, this mother was in a difficult situation because of this she couldn’t afford preschool. I’ve also loaned her money. Oh, why did you poison these children? We would have adopted this child if you had told us…’

‘I believe this death was caused by excessive debt. Their residence is also mortgaged. According to the news, this mother is in debt everywhere…’ said a neighbour, Jagath Kumara.

A person who lived near the house of the deceased child said this about the incident. ‘The father of this family is someone who left the army earlier. One will not get a pension if he quit in the Army half way. He is one of the best in Special Forces. There was no problem in this family. This father does not even smoke a cigarette. We need to stop this kind of criminal issues. Mothers are unable to support their children. It is because of the economic problems of this country…’

Psychiatrist Pavitra Godamune had commented on this tragedy in which a mother and a little son lost their lives due to economic problems.

In such cases, solutions cannot be found. Even if there are such solutions, nothing can be done. Due to the stress that comes at that time, many people take extreme decisions such as suicide. In such cases we should refer for psychological counselling. For that, you can get advice by calling private organizations like Sumithrayo in Sri Lanka and the government’s 1926 hotline number. Psychiatrist Pavithra Godamune states that everyone should refer to those counselling and seek advice.

This is the country’s actual situation. People are born and die. If you eat today, you’ll be thinking about how you’ll eat tomorrow and how you’ll eat tonight. Mothers are unable to bear their children’s hunger. It is impossible to send children to school. There is no way to educate them. That costs so much. This is only a single family’s problem in our country. Tens of thousands of innocent people in our country are affected by such issues. How many more will suffer a similar fate in the future? What steps will the government take to address this? People are looking forward to it.

In addition, we would like to make a heartfelt request to our country’s parents.

Dear parents, no matter how many problems you have, never do such a thing to your children. There are still many ways to conquer life in our country without running away from problems. Numerous social service agencies available to assist you. Many counselling services available. Such institutions are always willing to assist you. So don’t waste this one-of-a-kind human life. Remember that your child and you are a valuable asset to the country.

Nilanthi Renuka

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